From the Very Beginning
by HeartofaTiger
Summary: "Let me just make sure I understand you properly; you think someone is trying to kill Dumbledore?" "Yes." "Right then... You're all completely mental." A look into the first year of the Marauders, Lily Evans, and Severus Snape.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello there! I'd just like to start by saying this is my first real foray into writing, so any feedback at all is greatly appreciated! I think I should explain some about this story. My plan as of right now is to take this story from the very beginning (ahh, get it?!) of Lily and James's first year all the way to October 31, 1981. Things might change, but that is what I'm hoping for at this time. This story is going to start off a little slow, but I promise things will pick up once we get to Hogwarts! I hope y'all enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it! And, once again, any feedback would be lovely!**

 **Much love,**

 **L**

 **Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing from the original books written by J.K. Rowling. If I did own anything, I wouldn't be a poor college student.**

* * *

 _"It's pretty simple, pretty obvious: that people's first impressions of people are really a big mistake." – Vincent D'Onofrio_

"And they really carry the post?"

"Yes, Mr. Evans, I assure you, I am not mistaken."

"That's marvelous! However do they train them all? And how do they read the address?"

At this, the snowy owl Mr. Evans was scrutinizing so carefully fluffed her feathers and turned her head away, as if embarrassed and offended by the man's utter cluelessness. Minerva McGonagall, on the other hand, accessed all of her hidden reserves of patience to explain to the gentleman, who was clearly out of his element, once more exactly how the Wizard mail system worked. The man and his wife listened with wide eyes and mouths agape, as they reminded themselves that this was really the world their daughter was now a part of.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans had been in this same dreamlike state since the stern, upright looking Scottish woman arrived at their door carrying a letter of acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And that was seven months ago. Though they struggled to believe what the woman was telling them at first, that their youngest daughter was indeed a witch, they soon realized that it explained an awful lot. From the time their daughter Lily was a baby, she seemed to bring odd occurrences wherever she went. Even when she was a baby, Mrs. Evans didn't dare leave her baby crying for more than a few moments, at risk of the bassinet beginning to bounce up and down, as if stomping it's feet impatiently. Once when Mrs. Evans couldn't find Lily at the grocer's one day when Lily was six, every glass jar in the shop shattered before she could be found. Yes, it made perfect sense when they really thought about it.

Lily Evans was not quite as shocked as her parents upon their first glimpse into the wizarding world. Everything was exactly as Severus described it; the bustling street full of men and women in black robes, the children playing in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, the large group of teenaged boys gathered in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies, and the smell of books as they entered Flourish and Blott's were all exactly as she had expected them to be, but left her breathless with excitement nevertheless. Lily had spent the last two years dreaming of the moment when she would be here, and now she finally was. When Severus first told her the truth about her abilities, she was skeptical. Witches only existed in fairytales, and even then they were usually bitter old hags who liked to curse normal people for the fun of it. Lily didn't think she was a bitter old hag. The more Severus told her of his world, though, the more she wanted to be a part of it, and the more she feared that it might not be true. Perhaps it was all an elaborate joke he was playing on her. Petunia certainly hoped so.

As soon as her letter arrived, though, all of her doubts were forgotten, replaced by enthusiasm for her new life. Lily and Severus had been meeting every day to talk about Hogwarts, magic, and anything having to do with wizards. Lily didn't want to seem daft when she arrived at her new home for the next seven years. She had pried all of the information she could out of her friend, though he was a more than willing participant. Severus even gave her his mother's dingy old copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ that he found in his attic one day, though he insisted it was really no problem. Lily had dived into the book with a single-minded purpose of being the most informed student to arrive at Hogwarts, regardless of how realistic or unrealistic that goal may be.

The only damper on Lily's mood was the notable absence of her older sister, Petunia. Lily and her parents had begged Petunia to come along on the adventure, but Petunia had pleaded a headache and a bad cough to their parents when Professor McGonagall arrived to escort them to buy Lily's school supplies. Lily kept it to herself that Petunia had whispered in her ear that she was allergic to freaks. Being around Lily and that little demon boy was bad enough; such a concentrated amount of freakish activity at once would be too much to bear. Lily was sure Petunia would come around, though.

Professor McGonagall had taken Lily and her parents first to Gringott's bank to set up an account for Lily's use while away at school, as well as to exchange her parents' muggle currency to the proper wizard currency to make the day's purchases. Mr. Evans was characteristically amazed by the wizarding monetary system, and proceeded to interrogate their guide until they arrived at Ollivander's. Lily walked gingerly into the shop, wondering at its walls lined with thousands of rectangular boxes. The old man behind the counter smiled kindly at her.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ollivander," Professor McGonagall started. " We're here to purchase this young lady's first wand."

"And who might this young lady be?" Ollivander inquired as he glanced down at the red-haired eleven-year-old.

"Lily Evans, sir." Lily attempted to sound confident, and held her head high. She feared some of the effect was lost though, by her wandering eyes that she couldn't force to stop glancing around the dimly lit shop.

"Well, Ms. Evans, you seem rather eager to begin. Let's have your wand arm, then." Ollivander held out his hand expectantly.

"Er-what?" Lily looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"The arm you'll hold your wand with." Ollivander answered her patiently.

"Oh."

Lily obediently gave him her right arm, which he proceeded to measure from different points. He continued to attack Lily with his measuring tape, measuring not only her arm, but also her torso, her hand, and even her head. Lily wasn't quite sure what purpose this served, but didn't dare question his methods.

"Mr. Ollivander supplies wands for all of Hogwarts' students. He's truly the best there is at his craft. His family has been in this business for more than two millennia." McGonagall explained to the Evans's.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans looked enthralled by what McGonagall told them and watched Ollivander with great respect as he continued to examine their daughter.

"I've made all of the wands in this shop, and can remember every wand I've ever sold. No two wands are the same, each compliments a specific set of abilities and characteristics. They are conscious beings, working with the witch or wizard who wields them. In many ways, the wand makes the wizard as much as the wizard makes the wand," Ollivander explained, finishing his measurements.

Ollivander turned away from Lily and purposefully walked to the shelf on the far left of the shop, climbed the ladder, and pulled a box from near the top. Lily had no clue how he knew what he grabbed, all of the boxes looked identical, and none seemed to be marked. Ollivander opened the box, and pulled the wand out.

"Nine inches, Cypress, with a Dragon Heartstring Core. Noble, powerful" He explained, handing the wand to Lily. "Go on, then. Give it a try."

Lily wasn't sure what was supposed to happen when she flicked the wand about, but she did so anyway. She had barely even moved it before Ollivander snatched it out of her hand and shook his head. He returned it to its box and then disappeared into the aisles and aisles of wands. He returned with a new box, or so Lily assumed.

"Ten and a quarter inches, willow, with a unicorn hair core. Rather swishy, I'd say. Good for charms work," he said, pulling it out of its box and weighing it in his hands, before passing it to Lily.

Lily took the wand with more confidence this time, and didn't hesitate to swish it about. The movements were rewarded with brilliant sparks that shot out of the end. Lily and her parents both started at the sight.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Mr. Evans asked, concerned.

"Yes, indeed it was. I believe your wand has chosen you, Ms. Evans." Ollivander smiled proudly.

Lily looked down at the wand in her hand. Her wand. This was her wand that she would perform real magic with. She smiled down at it and once again began to swish it around with gusto. Sparks flew from the end, and a breeze suddenly picked up in the small shop, blowing papers off of the counter and sending them swirling about the room.

"Perhaps we should put this away for now," Mrs. Evans suggested, gently taking the wand away from her daughter and handing it back to Ollivander. The old man put it back in its box, while Lily frowned to herself. She tried to remember not to look like too much of a pouting child in front of her future professor, and told herself that soon enough she would be away at school where she could flick her wand to her heart's content.

After paying for the wand, the group had then made their way to Flourish and Blotts for Lily's schoolbooks, followed by a trip to Potage's Cauldron Shop and then Slug and Jiggers Apothecary for potions supplies. A trip to Madam Malkin's for Lily's school robes followed had followed that. Lily was already beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed when they arrived at the Magical Menagerie. Mr. Evans had been fascinated to learn that Wizards sent all their post by owl, and had wondered at wizards keeping the birds as pets. By this point, he had been testing McGonagall's patience on the matter for at least a quarter hour when Lily spoke up, saying she thought she'd rather like a cat for a pet better than an owl, requesting that the group make their way over to the feline area. Professor McGonagall sent her silent thanks with her eyes, to which Lily smiled in return.

After observing the kittens rolling around with each other, Lily plucked out a small tabby, far smaller than the rest of the kittens. Seeing that he was about to be ambushed by a horde of furry feline assassins, Lily plucked him out of the cat play area and turned to her parents.

"I like this one," she told her parents.

"An excellent choice," McGonagall told her, with approval and a sparkle in her eye that Lily didn't quite understand.

"We'll take this one," Mr. Evans told the clerk.

With Lily's packages in tow, the group made their way back into the crowded street of Diagon Alley to return to the muggle world.

* * *

Euphemia Potter's eyes scanned Diagon Alley once more in search of an unusually shaggy head of black hair. Her son, James, had managed to lose her once again in the crowded street. This was the second time since their arrival, less than an hour before, to pick up some last minute items for James's imminent departure for school. He had already snuck away to Gambol and Japes Joke Shop while she had been distracted trying to make their way through the crowded street. When she had finally caught up with him, he claimed that he had lost sight of her and thought it best to make his way to a location at which she would think to search for him, and her discovery of her son really only proved his point.

Mrs. Potter had already checked Gambol and Japes and Broomstix, when she spotted the familiar mop of jet-black hair beside a display window.

 _Of course_ , she thought to herself, _he would be near the Quidditch supplies_.

James Potter stared glassy eyed at the display in front of him. The Nimbus 1001 was the newest model in the Nimbus line, and it was absolutely perfect in every way; fast, sleek, and agile. It was exactly the broom for him. Now all he had to do was convince his mother of that… He did a quick mental calculation of how much time would need to be spent begging, groveling, whining, and giving doe eyes to his mother before she would cave and buy it for him. If his calculations were correct, the broom would be his by November.

He smiled to himself, picturing himself stepping off of his Nimbus after single-handedly winning Gryffindor the Quidditch cup. The wind blowing through his hair as the entire Gryffindor team lifts him up on their shoulders and carries him all the way to the Gryffindor Common Room. The girls swooning when he throws them his winning smile. The entire school chanting his name: _James! James! James! James!_

"JAMES!" his mother's shrill cry pulled him out of his daydream. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you, must you always run off? I'm getting far too old for this…"

"Don't be ridiculous, Mum, you could never be old," James told her, while sending her one of his famous crooked grins. He could already see her resolve to be angry with him slipping. "If anything I'm helping you stay young, keeping you on your toes!"

"Thank you, dear," Euphemia said, patting her son's cheek, "but I rather think my feet prefer being firmly on the ground. "

At her son's look of disbelief, Mrs. Potter shook her head and grabbed the boy's shoulder to lead him back towards Madam Malkin's.

"You know, mum, I've been thinking…" James began.

"Oh dear, that's never good. "

James continued on, ignoring his mother's quip. "I really want to get involved once I get to Hogwarts. I've heard quidditch is a great way meet older students to help me study, but I don't think my broom is quite up to Gryffindor standards…"

"James, there's nothing wrong with you broomstick, we just bought it for you last year."

They entered the door of Madam Malkin's just as another group was exiting. James was distracted by a flash of bright red, but quickly turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"I'm only trying to ensure that I can exceed everyone's expectations at Hogwarts. You want me to be successful, don't you, mum?"

Euphemia took a deep calming breath; it was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

Severus Snape looked around him with extreme satisfaction. Today was the day. It was finally time to leave his miserable home behind and start a new life at Hogwarts. He had been waiting for this day for as long as he could remember. The only thing missing was Lily Evans. She had promised Severus that they'd meet up, but he had yet to see her.

He scanned the crowd around him in search of her dark red hair. All around him were families hugging and kissing as they said their goodbyes until Christmas. He and his mother had barely said a word since their arrival. This wasn't unusual, though. They just didn't have much to say to each other. Severus briefly let himself wonder what his mother would do now that he would no longer be living with her, during the school year at least. Perhaps she would get a job so that she wouldn't have to be home with Severus's father. Severus briefly wondered what kind of job his mother could get before deciding he didn't much care and shrugged the matter off.

His eyes flew over the crowded platform once more before he finally spotted the girl he was looking for. He lifted his hand to wave before he noticed that she wasn't paying attention to him. She was deep in conversation with that vile sister of hers. Severus had no affection for the elder Evans girl. He was sure that genetics had played a mean trick on Petunia Evans, giving all of the kindness and gentleness, not to mention magical ability, to her younger sister and leaving Petunia with nothing but bitterness and unusually horse-like features. He found himself sneaking closer in an attempt to hear their conversation.

"…I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry!"

Lily was desperately trying to grab her sister's arm as she spoke. Leave it to Lily Evans to apologize after doing nothing wrong. In fact, Severus thought, if anyone should be apologizing it should be dear "Tuney."

"Listen, maybe once I'm there- no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"

Severus shuddered at the idea of Petunia Evans at Hogwarts. She was about as magical as porridge with a personality to match. He really couldn't understand why Lily even cared. She was clearly far too good for her sister.

Severus watched as Petunia fought persistently to remove her arm from her younger sister's grasp, but Lily was holding on for dear life.

"I don't- want- to- go!" Petunia shrieked. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a-a…"

Severus could see the wheels turning in Petunia's head to come up with the most hurtful thing she could. Whatever came out of her mouth could not be good for Lily to hear.

"-you think I want to be a-a freak?"

And there it was.

* * *

"I'm not a freak. That's a horrible thing to say!"

"That's where you're going," Petunia said, with a level of malice Lily had never seen from her sister, at least not directed toward her. Usually Petunia's malice was focused on Severus. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy… weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety. "

Lily could feel her eyes filling with tears. Her own sister thought she was a freak. Sure Petunia got nervous when Lily caused some abnormal occurrence, but she had never told Lily that her abilities were freakish. Lily glanced over to see if her parents heard what Petunia had said, but saw that they were too busy admiring Platform 9 ¾ to notice. She also saw Severus standing a few feet away, but was too distraught to wave. She couldn't be telling the truth; Lily knew Petunia was only jealous. So jealous that she wanted to ruin Hogwarts for Lily. Well Lily Evans was not about to let that happen.

"You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."

Lily watched as Petunia's face turned bright red, but Lily wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment.

"Beg? I didn't beg!" Definitely anger.

"I saw his reply. It was very kind."

"You shouldn't have read- that was my private-" Petunia struggled to form a coherent sentence. "-how could you-?"

Lily glanced over to where she had seen Severus only moments before. Petunia's eyes followed Lily's.

"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!" Petunia had now surpassed anger and reached the point of outright rage.

"No –not sneaking…" Lily attempted to defend herself and her friend. "Severus saw the envelope and couldn't believe a muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of—"

"Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" All of the blood had drained from Petunia's face. Lily thought she might have preferred it when Petunia's face had been scarlet. With a final glare at her sister, Petunia spat the word "Freak!" at Lily and turned away.

Lily fought the urge to burst into tears. She didn't want to upset her parents before she left them for months. She just had to make it to the train.

Lily heard the train whistle blow, and turned to her family to say her goodbyes. Petunia's eyes were fixed on the entrance back to the muggle world, but that was fine with Lily. Lily's parents grabbed her into a tight embrace.

"Oh, sweetie, you're going to have so much fun! We love you so much and we're so proud of you! Don't forget to call us once in a while!" Mrs. Evans told Lily.

"They don't have telephones, remember, mum?" Lily reminded her mother. At Mrs. Evans's embarrassed look, Lily smiled and kissed her mother's cheek. "But I'll write as often as I can." This seemed to mollify her.

"You're gonna do great, Lilypad." Lily blushed at her father's use of his favorite nickname for her. "Don't forget about your old man while you're away." Mr. Evans' eyes were getting suspiciously watery, which only served to make Lily want to cry more.

"I love you, dad. I love you, mum." Lily said, struggling to keep her composure.

"Petunia?" Lily's mother called to her older daughter. "Come say goodbye to Lily, you won't see her until Christmas!"

"Bye," Petunia said, monotone, barely turning her head toward her sister.

"Petunia!" Mr. Evans admonished. "Come over here and give your sister a proper goodbye!"

Petunia grudgingly left her station by the wall, and pulled Lily into a reluctant hug.

"Freak," she whispered as she pulled away.

"Bye, Tuney." Lily knew she had to go now or risk an emotional breakdown for all to see. With a final hug and kiss for her parents, Lily boarded the Hogwarts Express.

* * *

Sirius Black walked down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express in search of an empty compartment. His search had been fruitless thus far, and he was quickly running out of patience with the whole situation. He glanced into another compartment only to see it occupied by a girl with red hair. He took note of this compartment as a possible last resort. The girl didn't seem like one to turn someone away from an empty seat. Just as he turned to take another lap around the train, he something run into him hard, knocking him backwards and onto his backside. Sitting up and shaking off his surprise, Sirius took note of the shaggy black hair and surprised expression. Make that someone.

"Watch where you're going!" He said to the boy who had run into him.

"Sorry, mate, but maybe you shouldn't be standing in the middle of the corridor," shaggy hair said. "Just a suggestion."

"It's fine," Sirius muttered, standing and brushing himself off. "Sorry I overreacted." Sirius blamed his current frustration and lack of patience on his mother. She had felt it appropriate to give him the "Black Family talk" for the hundredth time before he got on the Hogwarts Express.

The Black Family talk generally consisted of reminding Sirius that he belonged to the Ancient and Noble House of Black and that it was his job to uphold its honor by being sorted into Slytherin and only associating with Purebloods, just as his family had always done. Just like his cousins, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa had done. Bellatrix was already out of Hogwarts and engaged to be married, but Andromeda and Narcissa were still in school. His mother encouraged him to seek their guidance. Fat chance. Not that Andromeda was bad, she was certainly the sanest of the lot, but he would rather not associate himself so soon with the notorious Black sisters.

Sirius shook himself back into reality. Shaggy Hair was asking him a question.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Sirius."

"That's great, but what's you name?"

"My name is Sirius." Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes. His name was a constant struggle. It may have been one of the reasons he had some resentment toward his mother.

"Oh, ha! Sorry, mate!" The apology lost some of its effect since James was still chuckling to himself. "I'm James. James Potter." He held out his hand. Sirius took the proffered hand and shook it firmly.

"Good to know you, James. I don't suppose you're out here looking for a place to sit?" Sirius asked. "Because if you are, I was thinking of joining her." He gestured toward the compartment beside them, empty except for the redhead.

"Interestingly enough, I am. I was sitting with some other first years, but they didn't know what Quidditch was, so I figured I had best take my company elsewhere."

"Didn't know what quidditch was?" Sirius was as incensed as James. "What, do they live under a rock?"

"That's all I'm saying!" James agreed.

"So are you Magpies or a Cannons man?" Sirius asked.

"Neither, I'm a Puddlemere man myself."

Sirius thought to himself that this James bloke wasn't half bad as the pair entered the redhead's compartment.

* * *

James did his best to avoid making eye contact with the girl in front of him. He had to admit, he was doing a pretty admirable job, if he did say so himself. He wasn't sure how Sirius was faring, but he assumed just as well, if not better than, himself. They had asked the redheaded girl if she minded them sitting with her. She shook her head, and told them they could sit. James and Sirius introduced themselves, and the girl gave them a halfhearted smile, and told them her name. Something Evans.

James and Sirius had just struck up a conversation of the flying abilities of the Comet versus the Cleansweep when the Evans girl started crying. Sirius noticed first, nudging James to get his attention. James was surprised she was so emotional about the poor performing abilities of the Comet. He was going to offer her small consolation in that it at least didn't _look_ as bad as it flew, but Sirius had firmly shook his head at him.

So they had been tactfully ignoring the Evans girl's tears every since. A few other first year boys wandered in after them, apparently having a sixth sense of where to find quidditch conversation. The group had grown rather large and rowdy, but the girl still hadn't so much as moved her head from the window. James was about to ask her opinion, at least in the hope of ending her incessant waterworks, when the door to the compartment swung open, revealing a boy in secondhand robes with a hooked nose and the greasiest hair James had ever seen. James considered offering the boy some of his hair potion, just in case he didn't know that such a thing existed, but was distracted when the boy plopped himself down across from the Evans girl.

Odd that he seemed to know her. They didn't seem like the type to intermingle. Oh well, James thought to himself. It's not like he knew anything about the girl except that her tear ducts were in excellent working condition. For all he knew she was just as opposed to hygiene as Greasy Hair over there. James decided it would be tactful to ignore the pair. He wasn't sure what was going on there, but the girl didn't seem happy to see him. He threw himself back into the boys' conversation with even more vigor when he heard someone mention the Holyhead Harpies' chances of taking the League this year. He didn't notice the boy and girl again until he heard the only word that could get a reaction out of him faster than "quidditch."

"Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" James looked to Sirius for support. To James's surprise, Sirius didn't grin back at him.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin." Sirius frowned.

James was dumbstruck by this information. "Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!"

Sirius smiled at this. "Maybe I'll break the tradition."

James certainly hoped he did. This Sirius bloke seemed all right. He was definitely someone he could see himself hanging around with at school.

"Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?" Sirius wondered.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart. Like my dad." James stated proudly, and, feeling this also required a visual demonstration, pulled out an invisible sword and pretended to swing it about.

James heard greasy hair make a choking noise in the back of his throat. He turned on the boy-what was his name? He knew he'd heard Evans say it. _Severus_ , that was it. Stupid name. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," Severus told him, but his sneer told James otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you going, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interrupted.

James couldn't stop himself from roaring with laughter. He had been right; this Sirius bloke was a quality guy. Evans apparently disagreed, though.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment." She said, grabbing Severus's arm and pulling him from the compartment.

James looked at Sirius, and both simultaneously let out an "Ooooo…" and roared with laughter again.

James reached out his foot just as Severus tried to pass him, and was disappointed when Severus stumbled, but didn't fall. Sirius made up for it, though, by shouting, "See ya, Snivellus!" just before the Evans girls slammed the compartment door.

"Can you believe that guy?" James asked Sirius.

"I think we're going to have a lot of fun this year," Sirius told James, grinning.

* * *

"Can you believe those guys?" Lily asked Severus, as she pulled him down the train corridor to another compartment. "They were such jerks! You didn't do anything to them to deserve that!"

"They're just a bunch of gits." Severus told Lily. "Probably got bored and wanted to start something before we even get to Hogwarts."

Lily and Severus walked down the corridor in search of an empty compartment. Lily stopped when she saw a compartment that was empty aside from a small, blonde girl sitting by herself. Lily looked at Severus with a question in her eyes; he shrugged, which she took as acquiescence.

Lily opened the door to the compartment, and poking her head in, asked, "Is it all right if we join you?"

The girl nodded, "Yes, that'd be wonderful!"

Lily smiled at the girl enthusiastically. It looked like not everyone going to Hogwarts was a git after all. "I'm Lily," Lily introduced herself, and then gestured toward Severus, "and this is Severus."

"Mary. Nice to meet you both." The girl smiled sweetly at them, and Lily took the seat beside her while Severus chose to sit across from the girls.

"Are you a first year, too?" Lily asked Mary.

"Yeah, what gave it away?" Mary joked.

"What can I say, these things just come to me." Lily joked back.

"So do you both have parents who are wizards?" Mary asked.

"Nope. My mum and dad are both muggles. My sister is two…" Lily bit her lip when she said this, then decided to put Petunia out of her mind. No need to open up that topic again.

The girls both looked at Severus expectantly.

"My mum's a witch, yeah." Severus told them, and left it at that. They both looked as if they expected him to say something else, but he kept his mouth shut.

"My parents are both muggles, too." Mary told them, breaking the awkward silence. "I'm so relieved I'm not the only one!"

"You couldn't actually think you'd be the only muggle born in all of Hogwarts." Severus interjected. Mary looked a bit taken aback and deflated at this. Lily shot Severus a warning glance.

"I was a bit worried, too, to be honest." Lily told the girl, smiling. "I'm glad I won't be the only one who hasn't the faintest what's going on."

Lily and Mary continued to talk for the rest of the ride, discussing their parents' shock at receiving their letters from Hogwarts.

"My mum nearly fainted! Then Professor Slughorn conjured up a glass of water for her and my dad really did faint!" Mary told them.

"My parents were a bit shocked, but I think they were just happy to have some explanation for the things I could do. Apparently, I was quite a fright as a baby. My mum was afraid to leave me alone; she thought I'd burn the house down without constant supervision."

Lily and Mary's eyes lit up when they saw the sweets trolley come by. Both girls bought a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and four Sugar Quills each. Severus merely shook his head when the Trolley lady asked him. Lily offered him some of her candy, but he told her he wasn't really hungry. Lily was shocked to notice the sun had already gone down and the lights in the train had come on. A curl of anticipation formed in her stomach when she realized they must be getting close to Hogwarts.

Lily turned to Severus to tell him, and realized that he had remained quiet for most of the ride, letting the girls talk. Lily turned to him, feeling guilty that she had ignored him this whole time.

"Severus, can I ask you a question?" Lily asked.

"I suppose so."

"What's quidditch?"


	2. Chapter 2

**I would like to give a huge thanks and a big hug to those who have favorited and followed this story, it literally made my day to see that! In this chapter we have arrived at Hogwarts (finally), and get to see some of our (or at least my) favorite characters! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, it's certainly been my favorite to write so far!**

 **Excitedly yours,**

 **L**

 **Disclaimer: I still own nothing from the Harry Potter series. Unless you count the emotional damage... I do.**

* * *

" _Where we love is home- home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr._

Severus noted the slowing of the Hogwarts Express and scooted to the edge of his seat. He could barely contain himself from throwing the compartment door open, running down the corridor, and jumping off the train. The two girls sitting across from him were quite possibly the only things keeping him in his seat.

Lily and Mary had just changed into their Hogwarts robes in anticipation of their arrival. Lily had taken out her small kitten and was allowing Mary to hold him. He seemed content enough to lounge on Mary's lap while he commanded the full attention of the two girls.

"What an absolute sweetheart!" Mary cooed, fawning at the tiny creature as it nibbled on her sleeve. "Does he have a name?"

"Gwydion." Lily told her. When Mary gave her a confused look, Lily explained,

"My dad wanted to name him. He has a thing for Welsh folktales. Don't ask."

"Fair enough."

"It looks like everyone is getting ready to get off, should we head to the front of the train?" Severus asked. He tried not to look too eager, but Lily gave him a look to show him his cover had been blown.

"Don't you think we should wait until the train stops?" Lily asked him, with a look that was slightly too innocent.

"I just wouldn't want to get caught up in the herd when everyone tries to rush out at once," Severus tried to reason with her. "But if you want to get run over by 7th years, by all means…"

"We can head out, I don't really mind." Mary piped in.

"See? Thank you, Mary, for being the voice of reason. Shall we?" Severus began to grab his trunk, and the girls quickly followed suit at risk being left behind.

"Where are we?" Lily asked, looking out the window.

"Hogsmeade Village. It's just a bit away from Hogwarts. You can almost see the castle over there, see?" Severus pointed towards the distance, and Lily's eyes followed.

"I can't really see much…" Lily told him.

"You'll see it when we get closer. I think we're stopping."

Severus could barely contain his glee when the train ground to a halt in front of Hogsmeade Station. As soon as the train was stationary, the doors flew open and the group quickly stumbled off onto the platform.

"Where do you think we ought to go?" Lily asked.

Before Severus could respond, a booming voice rang out across the platform.

"Firs' years this way!"

The small group turned in the direction of the voice, and all three simultaneously stopped and stared open-mouthed at its source.

"Oh my…" Lily started.

"He's…" Mary tried to find a word.

"A giant." Severus finished. "At least part giant anyway. He seems a tad too civilized to be a full giant. At least he seems to know where we need to go."

Severus gestured toward the hulking man at the end of the platform, and began to move towards him. The girls followed close behind, not sure quite what to expect.

"'Ello there! You mus' be firs' years, am I righ'?" The enormous man looked at the three expectantly, with a huge grin on his face.

"Yes, sir." Lily confirmed.

"Right, then yer all goin' to be wantin' to stay close. Wouldn't want ye getting' lost and missin' yer own sortin'."

Severus nodded in agreement at the giant, then turned to watch as the other first year gathered around the giant as he continued to shout for them. Severus recognized the boys from Lily's compartment earlier gesturing wildly at each other as they discussed something. Severus sincerely hoped that they were no indication of the type of people who would be at Hogwarts. Severus reminded himself that even if everyone else at Hogwarts were slimy gits like those two boys, at least he'd have Lily, and even this Mary girl didn't seem half bad. And soon he'd be a Slytherin, just like his mother and the entire Prince family. He would finally belong somewhere.

* * *

Lily stood anxiously beside Mary and Severus as they waited for the other first years to join them in front of the friendly giant. She was suddenly very conscious of the fact that she was just minutes away from being at Hogwarts. For years at had seemed so far away, but now it was time. She wondered what house she's be sorted into. She knew from reading _Hogwarts, A History_ that there were four houses, one for each of the founders, and each emphasized certain values in its students. Ravenclaws were known for their intelligence, Hufflepuffs for their loyalty and hard work, Slytherins for their cunning, and Gryffindors for their courage. Lily had been leaning towards a desire for Gryffindor, but the boys back in the train were making her question that. She was beginning to think Ravenclaw wouldn't be a bad option.

Lily knew Severus wanted to be sorted into Slytherin; he had made no secret of it whenever they talked about Hogwarts. She also knew that he would like her to join him, but Lily thought it would be best to just let the chips fall where they may. The Sorting Hat was said to be infallible and always stuck by its choices.

Soon all of the first years had gathered themselves into a large group and those who were more knowledgeable were muttering to each other about the upcoming feast, their families, and what houses they hoped to be sorted into.

"Firs' years this way!" the giant called out, and began to move. The first years looked at each other before scurrying to keep up with him. "Keep up!"

Lily soon found herself in front of a large, dark lake full of rowboats.

"We have to row to the castle?" Mary asked, incredulous.

"Of course not. They row themselves." Severus corrected her.

"Oh, right." Mary and Lily glanced at each other and shrugged. "Magic."

The three climbed into a boat, and were joined by a sickly-looking sandy-haired boy who climbed in just before the boat began moving. Lily grinned at the boy, and he smiled meekly back before glancing away toward the castle. Lily couldn't blame him; she soon became entranced by the vision as well. The moon reflecting off the water lit up the castle and every window glowed from within. She had to remind herself that this was her home now, and would be her home for the next seven years.

The boats finally lurched to a stop inside an underground harbor and the first years clambered out. The enormous man once again called out for the first years to follow him up to the castle. The students' murmurings increased in volume and excitement until they reached the castle entrance. Everyone fell silent as the giant knocked three times on the large door.

* * *

A stern looking woman wearing emerald green robes opened the door. After thanking the giant for bringing the new students, she led the first years up the main staircase of the castle.

"Doesn't she look like a right ray of sunshine?" Sirius whispered to James.

Sirius saw the Evans girl from the train turn and glare at him when she heard this comment.

"And she apparently has a sidekick." James whispered back.

The boys both smirked back at redhead who rolled her eyes and turned back towards the front.

The woman stopped at the top of the staircase and turned to face the crowd of nervous faces.

"I am Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor House here at Hogwarts," she introduced herself.

James let out a quiet groan at this piece of information and Sirius smirked at him. James surreptitiously stomped on Sirius' foot causing Sirius to shout out a surprised "Ow!"

"Is there a problem, gentlemen?" McGonagall looked at the boys expectantly.

"No, Professor." James and Sirius said together.

"Very well then. Please attempt to control yourselves from any future outbursts."

"Sorry, Professor." They chorused.

"As I was saying, before you can take your seats in the Great Hall, you will all be sorted into one of the four houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor." James and Sirius turned to grin at each other. "Your house will be your family here at Hogwarts. You will celebrate each other's successes and share in each other's failures. Achievements earn your house points, while failure to follow rules will lose your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup. I will be back shortly once we are ready for you."

McGonagall turned and entered the Great Hall, leaving the first years to contemplate her words. James had turned to extol the virtues of Gryffindor to a small, mousy boy on his other side, leaving Sirius to his thoughts. He knew what his mother would do if she could know what he was thinking now: lock him in his room without food for a week, then kick him out of her house, and disown him. Not that those last two sounded bad. Sirius knew that he had to make a choice. He could either join the rest of his family in Slytherin, pretending to believe in their pureblood dominance madness, like he knew his cousin Andromeda did, or he could risk his mother's wrath and go where he really wanted to be.

He didn't have long to ruminate on it before McGonagall returned to inform them that it was time. The first years formed an orderly line and trailed into the Great Hall. Sirius heard the gasps from the Muggleborns as they saw the enchanted ceiling above them. Sirius couldn't tear his eyes from the Sorting Hat resting on the stool at the front of the room, though.

When they finally reached the front of the room, the hat burst into song, surprising even Sirius.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Sirius couldn't focus on the Sorting Ceremony; he was too wrapped up in his own concerns. He knew he would be one of the first to be called; he had to make a decision soon. He thought back to the conversation he and his cousin Andromeda had had after he'd received his Hogwarts letter.

"Sirius, I know how you are. We all know you enjoy pissing Walburga off, but just let her have this one. Be a Slytherin, just like the rest of us. You'd be good in Slytherin. It really isn't a bad thing."

"You can't really think I'd want to be like the rest of our family. You have met them, haven't you?"

"They can be a bit… extreme. We're not all horrible, though, Sirius, surely you know that." At Sirius's skeptical look, Andromeda took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I'm only saying this to help you. Your life would be a lot easier if you just learned to play your part."

Looking back on it now, Sirius was slightly disgusted be his cousin's words. She was telling him to be a coward, to bow down to his mother's insane fantasies just to make his own life a little easier. But could he really believe that his mother would think him any less of a disappointment just because he joined became a Slytherin? He would always be the black sheep of the Black family, regardless of what he chose to make his family at Hogwarts.

"Black, Sirius."

Sirius was startled out of his reverie by McGonagall's words. James nudged him and whispered, "That's you, mate. Good luck."

Sirius made his way up to the stool at the front of the Great Hall, and turned to face his fellow students as he sat down. He glanced toward the Slytherin table and he immediately spotted his cousins. Narcissa glanced toward him with a bored expression before returning her attention to the boy sitting directly to her left, who had hair just as blonde and nearly as long as hers. On Narcissa's right side sat Andromeda who was staring meaningfully at Sirius. Sirius stared back at her until McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head and it slid down, covering his eyes.

"Hmmm… another Black. I supposed I know where you want to go…"

 _No!_ Sirius thought violently.

"No?"

 _Not Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin._

"You would do well in Slytherin. You're more than cunning enough, and your blood is as pure as I've ever seen. Surely your mother would want you to continue your family's illustrious legacy."

Sirius felt confident the hat was just taunting him at this point. _It doesn't matter! I don't care where you put me, just not Slytherin._

"If you're sure then… GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius briefly wondered whether it would hurt when his mother blasted him off the family tree. As he stood up from the stool, he saw James flash him a thumbs up. It was then that Sirius decided that he didn't really care about his place on the family tree, and took his seat at the Gryffindor table, refusing to look back at the Slytherin table to see his cousins' reactions.

* * *

Lily felt completely ready to be sorted into her house. She'd been avoiding hoping for one house over the others, and now she was glad she had. It was better to go in with an open mind and avoid disappointment.

"Evans, Lily."

Lily smiled when she heard her name called, and quickly made her way toward Professor McGonagall. She looked for Severus to give him a reassuring smile, but McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head before she could find him.

"Hmmm… Interesting. Unusual." The hat croaked in Lily's ears.

Lily was suddenly very self-conscious. Could the hat hear everything she was thinking?

"Yes, I can."

Lily became extremely self-conscious. What about her mind was unusual? Was she too unusual to be placed in a House? Was she too unusual for Hogwarts? Then she remembered that Hogwarts made decisions based on the opinion of a hat, and decided there was no way she was too unusual to fit in here. Petunia would have a conniption when she heard about this.

"Kind, hard working, but with a desire to prove yourself. You know how to get what you want, but you're also willing to work for it. Sacrifice for it. A good mind, too. Brave, and loyal nearly to a fault. You're unusual."

 _So what does that mean for me? Where will you put me?_ Lily asked the hat.

"Where do you think I should put you?"

 _You're asking me? You're actually asking me? You must be joking,_ Lily thought, panicked. _I thought that's why you were here, so I wouldn't have to choose. Some help you are…_

"Hmmm… Bold. Better be… GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily let out a huff of relief, and then smiled at Professor McGonagall before rushing down to sit with the rest of her house. A boy with dark wavy hair scooted down the bench to make room for her. She smiled at him in gratitude before realizing that he was one of the boys from the train. She quickly turned away from him and her eyes unconsciously sought out Severus. She saw him looking back at her with a melancholy expression on his face. Lily wondered whether he was more serious than she'd thought when he'd told her he hoped she'd be a Slytherin.

* * *

Remus Lupin stood anxiously in the crowd of first years waiting for his name to be called. He had been waiting for this moment for so long, and had thought it would never happen for even longer. He still couldn't believe that Professor Dumbledore was allowing him to come to Hogwarts.

Remus's parent had been shocked to open the door two weeks before his 11th birthday to see the white haired headmaster of Hogwarts with a knowing smile on his face and an acceptance letter in his hand. Dumbledore already had plans in place to deal with Remus's… problem, and told them he was only waiting for Remus's parents' approval before he went ahead and took care of the finishing touches.

Dumbledore explained to them that he planned on placing protective charms on an old house in Hogsmeade Village where Remus could transform during… that time of the month. The charms would keep the windows and doors barred, preventing Remus from escaping into the village or onto the grounds. The house would only be accessible through an underground passageway, which would be guarded by a Whomping Willow. Remus was onboard with the headmaster's plan from the get-go, but his parents were unsure.

Remus had never been away from his parents from the time of his attack, and had certainly never been allowed near other children. He was too young and unpredictable; too dangerous. He was a constant threat to everyone around him, even himself. He had more than enough scars to prove it. The fear of cursing another child to the same existence as their son made Lyall and Hope Lupin hesitate to agree to allow their son to attend school. But it was a miracle that Dumbledore had even considered allowing Remus to step foot in Hogwarts, let alone attend classes and live with the other students. Remus would have a magical education. A real one, better than what Lyall alone could have provided. It was better than anything they had dared to hope for. So instead of looking a gift horse in the mouth, they agreed to Dumbledore's plan.

And now he was here. Really here with other people his age. People who he could be friends with. He'd never had friends before. He'd had his parents, which he was grateful for, but no matter how loving they were they could never completely replace the feeling of belonging that came with having companions his own age. Now he only had to figure out how to make those friends.

Unfortunately with his looming transformation, Remus knew he wasn't looking his best. As the full moon drew closer, his skin took on an almost grey pallor, while dark circles formed under his eyes. He looked exhausted at best and downright ill at worst. With the full moon only days away, Remus looked like he was coming down with a bad bout of illness. This was probably a good thing, Remus reasoned. It would provide a believable excuse for his absence around the full moon.

"Lupin, Remus."

Remus shook himself from his reverie, and walked toward the front of the Great Hall. The stern Scottish woman looked at him knowingly before she placed the Sorting Hat on his head. Remus figured he shouldn't be surprised. At least some professors would need to be informed of his condition.

"Hmm… all right then. Intelligent, that much is clear. But there's something stronger there. A desire, possibly even a need, to belong. You'd make a good Ravenclaw, I'm sure of that, but you may make an even better Gryffindor."

Remus brightened at that idea. His father had been a Gryffindor. His father was the best man Remus knew, though perhaps sometimes misguided in his actions, he never did anything except what he believed was in Remus's best interest. Suddenly Remus wanted nothing more than to be a Gryffindor, to be surrounded by other Gryffindors who loved and accepted him. He wanted it so much it was almost a physical pain.

 _Please_ , Remus found himself mentally chanting. _Please, please, please let me be a-_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus nearly jumped off the stool in his excitement and practically threw the Sorting Hat back McGonagall before rushing to the Gryffindor table. He couldn't believe his luck as he sat next to a girl with dark red hair. She turned, and he realized it was the same girl who shared a boat with him. She appeared to remember this fact at the same time he did, and smiled warmly at him. Remus beamed back at her.

* * *

Peter Pettigrew was nervously shifting from foot to foot as he waited for his name to be called. He just wanted to get this whole sorting business over with. He didn't care where the Sorting Hat put him, as long as he was put _somewhere_.

"Pettigrew, Peter."

Peter scurried up to where McGonagall was holding the hat, and nearly knocked down the small stool in his haste to climb up on it. McGonagall shot him a disapproving look before placing the hat on his head.

"Hmmm… difficult. Quite difficult, I must say."

"Wh-wh-wha-?" Pettigrew stuttered.

"You're no Ravenclaw, that's for certain. Not a Hufflepuff either. Perhaps Slytherin… you've got the desire to succeed. Perhaps not the means, but certainly the desire. Not quite cunning, but certainly an ability to become so."

Peter had never even considered he might be put in Slytherin. His mother was surely hoping he followed in her footsteps and became a Hufflepuff, but that was out of the question. But then, what about…

"Now Gryffindor… You lack the courage of a Gryffindor, but perhaps in time you could learn it. You'd be a valuable companion to a Gryffindor. But then again, with Slytherin…"

The hat continued to debate back and forth over what house to put Peter into. He had lost track of how long he had been sitting there, but based on the looks of his peers and the professors it was longer than usual. Some students even seemed concerned for him.

Peter glanced toward the Gryffindor table and saw a boy his age with dark wavy hair whispering to an older girl beside him. She was giggling at what he said, and soon a number of older girls were enthralled by the boy, giggling and glancing at him with admiration in their eyes. Peter would've given anything to be like that boy.

 _Gryffindor_ , Peter thought. _I want to be a Gryffindor._

"I suppose that will do, then… GYRFFINDOR!"

Peter jumped excitedly out of the stool, nearly knocking it over once again. He didn't look back to see McGonagall's reaction, and practically sprinted toward the table. It wasn't until he saw the snickers of the other students that he realized he had forgotten to return the hat. He scurried back to the front of the Great Hall, then handed the hat to McGonagall with a stuttered apology before slumping back toward the Gryffindor table.

* * *

James stood confidently among his peers. He had no doubt of where the Sorting Hat would place him. He was born to be a Gryffindor; there was no question about it. His father had told him since the time he was young that all Potter men were sorted into Gryffindor. He also told James that he wouldn't be disappointed if James were sorted into another house, but James would have none of it.

"Potter, James."

As soon as James heard his name called, he practically strutted toward Professor McGonagall and the Sorting Hat. He sat on the stool, and McGonagall had barely placed the hat on his head before it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

James hopped off the stool and handed the hat back to Professor McGonagall with a smirk before turning and swaggering to his house table. He spotted Sirius and rushed over to where he was sitting. Sirius moved over to make room for him, and James quickly took his seat between Sirius and the red-haired Evans girl.

"Congrats, mate, looks like you got into the house you wanted." Sirius congratulated him with a clap on the back.

"Same to you. Looks like you broke the family tradition."

"Some traditions need to be broken," Sirius told him with a grin.

James grinned back before turning to the red-haired girl beside him who had just been talking to the sandy haired boy beside her.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced," James told her, holding out his hand. "I'm James."

"Lily," the girl told him pleasantly as she shook his hand. James was surprised at her pleasantness until she suddenly looked between himself and Sirius, slanting her eyes slightly. Realization seemed to dawn on her, and she quickly pulled her hand back, said a short, "excuse me," and turned back to the other boy beside her.

Lily, James repeated the name in his head. Not bad. He thought he preferred Evans, though.

* * *

Severus was struggling not to openly glare at the Gryffindor table. The two gits from the train were sitting beside Lily and trying to make conversation with her. Luckily, she seemed uninterested, but she was paying a lot of attention to the sickly-looking boy on her other side. Severus decided that there must be some higher power that had it out for him. Lily could have been in any house, but fate had decided to place his best friend in Gryffindor, Slytherin's rival. He'd never tell her that, of course, but she wasn't stupid. He was sure she'd figure it out eventually; it was only a matter of time. Whether she chose to stay friends with him when she found out, though, was up in the air.

Severus tried not to get too down in the dumps as he waited for his name to be called. He had been waiting for this moment his whole life, why should he let one little thing like possibly losing his only friend ruin it for him?

"Snape, Severus."

Severus hurried to the front of the room, but his feet got caught up in his robes, and he stumbled along the way. He heard sniggers coming from the Gryffindor table, and sure enough the two boys from the train were whispering to each other and chuckling quietly. Snape felt his face heating up and his hands unconsciously curled into fists. He glanced over to see Lily's reaction, and she smiled at him sympathetically before giving him a quick thumbs up. Severus shoved his hands in the pockets of his robes before he continued on.

McGonagall placed the hat on his head, and it barely made contact before it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

Severus practically threw the hat back at McGonagall before making his way toward the Slytherin table. He spotted an empty seat next to an older boy with pale blonde hair that had grown out past his shoulders. The boy had a prefect badge gleaming on his chest, and smiled as Severus sat down beside him.

"Congratulations, Severus. You must be proud to be a Slytherin."

"Of course," Severus told him.

"My name is Lucius Malfoy. You just let me know if you ever need anything."

"Thank you," Severus told him, sincerely. It made Severus feel significantly better knowing that he had at least one older student who appeared to take an interest in him. What he wasn't sure of was why. Severus decided he didn't quite care why, though.

Once all of the students had been sorted into their houses, Professor Dumbledore stood to address the student body. Severus knew all about Dumbledore, he supposed anyone with any knowledge of magic would have to. But looking at this unassuming old man with his twinkling blue eyes, it was hard to imagine him defeating a dark wizard such as Grindelwald.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I'm sure you're all looking forward to another year of learning. I would like to especially welcome our newest students, and hope that you remember that Hogwarts, from this point forward, will always be your home. I would also like to take a moment to introduce the newest member of our staff, Professor Ellis Sayer."

All eyes in the hall turned to look at the man in question. Severus could only tell who he was because he stood up when Dumbledore motioned to him and gave a slight nod to Dumbledore and then to the students. He was young, surprisingly young, to be a professor. In fact, he barely looked old enough to be out of Hogwarts. Severus couldn't see him having left Hogwarts more than four or five years before. This idea was proven accurate when a most of the oldest Slytherin students either rolled their eyes or made indignant noises at the man's introduction.

"I trust you will all show him the proper respect afforded a Hogwarts professor and will make him feel welcome." A few snort came from the Slytherin table at that, but Dumbledore seemed to ignore them. "That being said, tuck in!"

"They must really be running out of options if they hired Sayer to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts," Severus heard Lucius Malfoy whisper to the blonde girl beside him, who nodded grimly in agreement.

Severus turned his attention away from the two older students when he saw the spread of food before him. Roasts, shepherd's pie, lamb, potatoes, puddings, gravies, and carrots were all laid out before him. He almost didn't know where to start.

"The steak and kidney pie is exceptional," Lucius Malfoy told Severus, matter-of-factly.

Severus nodded his thanks, before serving himself a large helping.

The more he thought about, the more Severus realized that he could certainly use the friendship of someone like Lucius Malfoy. Severus could only assume that having Lucius Malfoy invested in his welfare could help him, not only to be successful in Hogwarts, but beyond Hogwarts as well. It was then that he decided that he would win Malfoy's trust and, failing the development of a real friendship, endorsement, at least. Malfoy would make an excellent Slytherin mentor; he was a school prefect, meaning the professors liked and trusted him, and he was obviously well-respected among the others of his house.

Soon the entrees disappeared, replaced by another spread, this time of numerous desserts. Severus helped himself to as many as he thought he could eat without becoming ill. One good thing about Hogwarts would definitely be the food. Severus's mother was not exactly domestic, so this food was a far cry better than anything she had ever attempted to prepare. Severus could definitely get used to life at Hogwarts.

As soon as the students finished their meals, the food disappeared from the tables, and Dumbledore stood once again.

"Before you all depart for your common rooms, I would like to take a moment to inform our new students, and remind those returning, of a few rules in place here at Hogwarts." Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes became serious, and though his voice never became exactly stern, his words held an undeniable authority. "Curfew is at ten o'clock every night; all students must be in their common rooms by this time. Any students out of bed after hours will receive detention. This includes wandering the grounds. The Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, unless expressly given permission otherwise. Many creatures claim this forest as their home, and not all care to share it.

"Speaking of which, some of you may have noticed a new feature on our grounds." The students looked at each other, confused. Only a few understand what the headmaster was talking about, nodding at Dumbledore. "We have decided to plant a Whomping Willow on the grounds for some of our higher level students who have shown particular aptitude for herbology to observe firsthand. Please take care to remember that this is no average plant. Be sure to keep your distance, this particular tree does not appreciate being disturbed. If you come too close, I'm afraid you will regret it." Dumbledore gave the students a stern look before continuing. "Now then, off to bed!"

Severus did his best to keep up with the crowd of Slytherins as the students rushed out of the Great Hall. The first years were directed to follow the prefects to the common room, and Severus immediately sought out Lucius Malfoy. The older boy's blond head, however, was already disappearing through the entrance of the Great Hall.

Severus glanced over at the other first years nervously crowding behind two fifth year prefects. Severus recognized the female prefect as the girl who was sitting beside Malfoy at the Slytherin table. She had long, platinum blonde hair and looked extremely bored by what was going on around her.

Severus quickly made his decision, and slid into a group of second years as they hurried out of the Great Hall. Once they had reached the outside corridor, Severus split off from the second years and hurried in the direction he had seen Lucius Malfoy go.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Whew, it has been one crazy week! Thankfully it's almost over, and I can finally relax and enjoy Halloween! In all honesty, though, I'm mostly glad that I finally was able to finish this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has been reading, I'd love to hear from anyone who has any thoughts/comments/questions/concerns/criticisms! Also, I should probably go ahead and address the fact that since posting Chapter 3, I have made a few changes, adding things that I may have forgotten or only thought to add after the fact. Some conversations were also moved to this chapter instead, just because I thought they fit better here. OK, so now that I've said my part, I'll leave you be!**

 **Happy Halloween!**

 **L**

 **Disclaimer: All things magical belong to JK Rowling. The only magical thing I own is a trash bag full of Lucky Charms marshmallows.**

* * *

" _Curiosity is natural to the soul of man and interesting objects have a powerful influence on our affections." – Daniel Boone_

"Look all I'm saying is that my dad told me it exists, and my dad is never wrong."

"You're completely mental! Why would there be a dirt AND a farm dirt flavored Bertie Bott's bean? They're the same thing!"

"I'm telling you they're different! Farm dirt has a more domesticated flavor..."

Sirius rolled his eyes. He and James had been having this argument for the past twenty minutes. A few of the other Gryffindors had contributed to the debate; a mousy boy named Peter took James's side, claiming he had had both, and there was a noticeable difference between the two. They had taken the discussion out of the Great Hall and were making their way to the Gryffindor Common Room with the other first years, trailing behind two fifth year prefects.

"I think I'm going to agree with Sirius, here. I mean, you don't really have any proof," Dorcas Meadowes, another Gryffindor first year with dark shoulder-length hair, told James.

"I have plenty of proof! Just listen to Pete here," James threw his arm around Peter, his focus now completely on Dorcas.

Sirius was about to question Peter's reliability as a witness, when he suddenly felt a hand cover his mouth as someone pulled him away from the other Gryffindors. Sirius tried to shout out, but the hand grasped his mouth even tighter. Sirius felt himself being dragged behind a statue, and panicking, threw his elbow back into his attacker's face. His assailant dropped him, and Sirius turned to attack-

"Andromeda?!"

"Bloody hell, you might have turned around before you decided to break my nose!" Sirius's cousin gingerly touched her nose as she scowled at him.

"You might have tapped me on the shoulder like normal human being instead of trying to bloody well kidnap me!"

"I didn't want anyone to see."

"Can't be seen fraternizing with the enemy?" Sirius scowled at him cousin. Though she was certainly the lesser of three evils when it came to the Black sisters, Sirius couldn't forget that she was one of them.

"Don't try and make this a joke, Sirius. Why couldn't you just do as you were told this once? It isn't like it's hard; all you had to was let the Hat sort you into Slytherin. I'm sure it would've, you'd make an excellent Slytherin." That was the second time in less than an hour that Sirius had heard that and he wasn't sure he liked it. "But you asked to be a Gryffindor, I could see it on your face when you were up there. I hope you realize that there are going to be consequences for this."

"What, upsetting dear Walburga?"

"There are more people invested in the Black family name than just your mother, Sirius. It means something around here, and it definitely means something out there."

"Spare me the Black Family Honor speech, I've heard it before. It was practically my bedtime story." Andromeda scowled at him, but Sirius continued, "Thanks for the chat, but if that's all you wanted to say…"Sirius turned to walk away, but Andromeda grabbed him arm and pulled him back.

"No, that wasn't all." Andromeda's face became creased with concern. "Things are changing out there, Sirius. The world isn't the way it used to be. Now is not the time to be making enemies with families like ours. It isn't safe. You're better off just playing the part. You've been dealt a good hand; don't throw it away."

"You're asking me to be a coward," Sirius accused her.

"No, I'm asking you to use your head. You need to start looking out for yourself. No one else is going to do it for you."

Sirius scoffed at the idea that anyone had ever looked out for his wellbeing beside himself. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Whatever is necessary to keep your mother happy." Sirius gave her a scathing look, but she pushed on. "Say it was an accident, you were confused, you saw a pretty girl, anything."

"I won't do that," Sirius told her. At Andromeda's exasperated look, Sirius explained, "If things are really as bad as you say they are it's because people like you won't stand up for what's right. You hide behind our last name and pretend to be the Black family's prefect little Pureblood Supremacist, but you're just afraid."

"You're such a child, Sirius. You don't understand."

"I think I understand just fine, thanks. Are we done here?"

"Yeah, we're done." Andromeda began to turn to walk away, but turned back. "Think about what I said. I can't help you if you won't help yourself."

"I think I'd rather not have your version of help."

"Goodbye, Sirius." Sirius watched as his cousin shook her head sadly at him, then turned and left him standing in the hall alone.

Sirius walked out from behind the statue, and turned in the direction he thought he had been dragged from. He began to walk in that direction, cursing cousins and kidnappings under his breath as he went, until he realized he had no idea where he was going.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius turned around, trying to find some familiar landmark. He remembered that they had just reached the seventh floor when his cousin had decided to play hostage with him. Sirius cursed his luck that he only knew the location of the Slytherin Common Room. "Stupid ruddy Black family with their stupid ruddy heritage…"

Sirius began to wander down the hall farther. There had to be some way to find out where the Gryffindor Common Room was… Sirius glanced around the hall, but there was no one to be seen. Figures, Sirius thought to himself. He wandered a bit farther down the hall glancing at the portraits as he passed. Nothing particularly interesting there, mostly old men whispering conspiratorially to each other and shooting Sirius shifty glances as he passed.

Sirius was beginning to worry that he might be spending the night in this hall. He began to contemplate the level of comfort of the floors, and was so absorbed in his thoughts he almost missed the boy down the hall watching as a large portrait swing away from the wall.

Sirius's instincts jumped into action, and he himself running towards the boy rather furiously and shouting, "OI!" at the top of his lungs. The boy turned, startled towards Sirius, and his eyes grew frightened as he watched the dark haired boy barrel towards him.

"Wait!" Sirius shouted as the boy began to climb through a hole behind the portrait of a rather rotund opera singer.

The boy stopped and stood his ground, quite frankly surprising Sirius. The boy looked positively ill, his skin was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and his clothes, though not ragged, hung off of his thin frame. "What do you want?" the boy questioned.

"I-didn't-know-the password." Sirius gasped as he tried to catch his breath. "Or-where-to find-the Common room."

The boy's look lost some it suspicion, but not all. "Why didn't you know, didn't you follow the prefects?"

"I got distracted… Why weren't you following the prefects?" Sirius asked, now slightly suspicious himself.

"I had to see the Matron, Madame Pomfrey."

Sirius nodded at the boy in understanding, not doubting the boy's honesty. He certainly looked like he could use a visit to a healer. Sirius gestured toward the portrait hole, and the boy stepped aside to allow Sirius to enter first.

"I guess that was lucky for me then. I was starting to think I might be stranded out here all night… What's your name?" Sirius asked his companion as they entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Remus Lupin," the boy told him.

"I'm Sirius. Sirius Black. You a first year too?"

"Yeah, I am."

"There you are!" Sirius heard a voice shout from across the room. He turned and saw James sitting by the fireplace surrounded by other first years Gryffindor boys, and a few older students as well. "What happened to you, get lost on your way to the loo?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Sirius scoffed at James. "Remus and I just decided to do some exploring around the castle," Sirius slapped Remus on the back as he said his name, nearly sending the boy flying forward. "Whoa, there mate." Sirius grabbed the boy's arm and helped steady him, feeling slightly guilty for nearly taking out the sick boy who had just helped him.

"That's brilliant! You should've told me!" James's face was excited at the prospect of sneaking around the castle when no one else was around. He did genuinely seem to think it was a genius plan on Sirius's part. Sirius only felt slightly like a prat for lying, since he mostly felt relieved that no one had questioned his lie, including Remus, who only looked slightly confused at Sirius's words but seemed to accept his story nonetheless. This Remus bloke isn't bad either, Sirius thought to himself. He definitely knows how to keep his mouth shut. Not a bad guy to have around.

"We would've if you hadn't been so concerned about your made up sweets," Sirius told him with a smirk.

"It's not made up! It's a real flavor!" The other Gryffindors let out a collective groan, a few even shot Sirius dirty looks, for reminding James of the Great Bean Debate.

* * *

Lily sat with the other Gryffindors girls around the fire in the Common Room. She couldn't stop herself from staring around the room every chance she got. She had to admit, it was certainly the most home-y part of the castle she had been in so far. She was a little concerned that living in a castle would be drafty and cold, but this room could only be described as warm. Everything was in shades of gold and scarlet, from the walls to the carpet to the curtains, even the furniture. There was a blazing fireplace in one corner, lighting up the entire room and contributing to the gold and scarlet motif.

"My father's a wizard and my mum's a muggle," Dorcas Meadowes told the other girls. "She really tries to get me to embrace my 'muggle heritage.' Luckily my dad put his foot down when she tried to send me to muggle school."

"You're lucky," Eleanor Kingston, a second year who had recently joined the conversation to meet the "newbies" as she called them, pouted. "My dad's a muggle and insisted I get a 'proper education.' My mum tried to explain that it wasn't a good idea, but he forced me to go until I turned nine. Even then, the only reason they pulled me out was because I made a girl's eyebrows disappear when she wouldn't share her crayons with me."

"It could be worse," Lily consoled her. "When I was seven I accidentally gave Stevie Cunningham boils all over his face because he called my sister ugly. His parents pulled him out to be homeschooled, but mine made me stay until the end of last year. Both my parents are muggles, though…"

"It must be dreadful to go to a muggle school," a first year named Perdita Padmore declared, wrinkling her nose at the idea. "What could they possibly teach you that would be important?"

"It's not so bad," Mary told her. Perdita gave her a doubtful look, and Mary quickly stopped talking, and looked down at her hands.

"She's right," Lily told them, giving Mary a reassuring smile as she said it. "They teach you the same things your parents do, like reading and writing and basic math. Some of the things they teach you can be really interesting."

"If you say so…" Perdita still seemed unconvinced, but Lily let it slide. It wasn't her fault that she had no real concept of muggle culture. She wouldn't want people blaming her for not understanding wizard culture when she had never been exposed to it in real life until a few weeks before.

A sudden burst of laughter made Lily jump, throwing her off her train of thought. The first year boys were in hysterics over something a boy had said. Lily looked over and realized the boy talking was the same boy from the train, James Potter, and her forehead wrinkled in dislike. She and the other Gryffindor girls turned their attention to the boys to find out what was so amusing.

"This bloke was so red, I swear I thought his head was about to explode!"

"What did you do then?" asked Peter Pettigrew, a small, chubby boy with mousy brown hair. He was practically hanging off every word James Potter said.

"I ran for it of course! The old sod followed me for a good 2 miles before I lost him, though…" This sent the boys into another round of hysterics, and the girls looked at each other in confusion. They each shrugged at each other before moving closer toward the boys to join their conversation.

"I can't believe he let you get away with it," Roger Heron told the other boys, shaking his head.

"He didn't exactly have a choice," James told him with an heir of superiority. "He wasn't exactly in peak condition for running. Or any movement for that matter… I'm actually quite surprised he made it as far as he did. Really he should've thanked me for giving him his exercise for the year." Sirius Black, the other boy Lily remembered from the train, snorted at this, before turning to the new arrivals to the group.

"Hello, ladies, how might we help you?" He asked them with a smirk, causing a few of the girls to giggle.

"We heard some disturbing noises coming from this direction and thought we ought to make sure no one was dying over here," Dorcas Meadowes stated matter-of-factly.

"Could you perhaps describe the noises in question?"

"Sort of a cross between a pig being tortured and a mermaid out of water." Lily covered her mouth to keep from snorting at Dorcas's words, and Dorcas turned to grin at her. This also caught James Potter's attention. He glanced at her curiously, seeming to appraise her. She frowned at him, but he had already turned his attention back to Dorcas.

"How kind of you," James thanked her with false sincerity. "How can we ever repay you for your thoughtfulness?"

"You could start by telling us what's so bloody funny," Dorcas said, as she threw herself on the floor next to Sirius. Sirius looked surprised at her choice of seating arrangements, but shrugged it off nonetheless while the rest of the girls sat in the circle. Lily tapped Mary on the shoulder and they moved to sit beside Remus Lupin and Roger Heron, a second year boy with golden blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Hey, Remus!" Lily greeted him warmly. She knew from their conversation at dinner that he was a nice bloke, and certainly a much better option to sit with than Potter and Black, who were elucidating the wonders of dung bombs to Dorcas who merely nodded her head at them with an expression on her face that could only be interpreted as, "You're both complete idiots." Potter and Black didn't seem to notice, though, and Lily shook her head at them.

"This is Mary, she's a first year too. Mary, this is Remus." They each mumbled a quick greeting to the other, before both averting their eyes. Mary seemed to take a sudden keen interest in the nails of her right hand. Lily realized she had to act quickly before the awkward silence overtook them all.

"So… Gryffindor, eh?" Lily asked Remus, who was intently watching Potter and Black as the two boys discussed quidditch (always with the quidditch, what was it with these boys?) with Dorcas, using wild, flailing gestures to get their point across.

"What?" Remus shook himself from his thought. "Oh, yeah Gryffindor. My dad will be thrilled when I tell him," Remus smiled to himself.

"So your dad was a Gryffindor then?" Lily asked. Remus nodded in agreement. "And your mum?"

"No. No, she's a muggle. They met after he was out of school."

"Okay, this is going to sound silly, but what exactly do wizards do?"

"Magic. It's kind of their thing…Evans, isn't it?" This came from the other side of the group, and Lily turned to see James Potter smirking at her.

'Thank you for enlightening me, I never would have guessed…Potter, isn't it?" The boy merely smirked at her, and Lily decided to ignore him from that point on. She turned back to Remus and asked more quietly, "I meant what do they do after Hogwarts?"

Remus seemed to seriously ponder her question for a moment. "Lots of things, I suppose. Depends what you're good at. There are journalists, healers, dragonologists, and potioneers… My dad works at the Ministry of Magic…"

Remus again seemed to get lost in his own world, and Lily decided it might be best to just leave him be. She took a mental note to find out more about this Ministry of Magic. And dragons too, for that matter.

Soon, a prefect named Agatha Hightower said they had best be off to bed, and the first years made their way to their respective dormitories. The girls entered the door to find a room with five four-poster beds, one for each of them, with a large stove taking up the center of the room. There was a window beside each bed, each with its own window seat. Lily spotted her trunk at the foot of the bed closest to the door. She smiled when she saw that Mary would be in the bed beside her.

Dorcas was about to throw herself on her own bed when Perdita cleared her throat loudly, getting everyone's attention.

"Er-, not be a bother, but… I don't think I can sleep in this bed."

"Why? Is there something wrong with it?" asked Marlene McKinnon, glancing suspiciously at first Perdita's and then her own bed.

"No, no nothing's wrong with the bed per se, just the position." At the other girls' confused looks she explained, "I have to sleep facing East."

Lily wasn't sure how Perdita could even tell which direction was East considering the fact that it was completely dark outside, and based on the other girls' faces, neither could they.

"I promise I'm not making this up! I've been this way since I was a baby. My aunt told me it messes with my Sahasrara. "

"…Sorry, what?" Dorcas asked.

"My chakras." Perdita said this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Maybe you should you see someone about that…" Marlene suggested with a concerned look on her face.

"It's not a disease," Perdita rolled her eyes. "They're my energy points. It's a muggle thing my aunt got into when she went on holiday in India. She's been helping my mum and I find our inner peace." Perdita nodded seriously after this speech.

"That sounds lovely and all, but what are we going to do about your…er, chakras?" asked Dorcas.

"Well, I, er… would need to sleep in your bed. That is, we'd have to switch…You would sleep over here, and I would sleep over there…"

"Oh… Er- all right then…" Dorcas silently gathered her belongings and moved them to the bed between Mary and Marlene.

"Sorry, about this, really." Perdita began to apologize as she moved her things to the bed Dorcas, though her expression didn't exactly scream sorry to Lily. Lily supposed no one was really sorry when things worked out their way, though. Then she felt slightly guilty for thinking poorly of a girl she had hardly even met, and decided to give Perdita the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was actually a delightful person with an odd way of showing it around new people.

Lily watched as Dorcas began to unpack her things, and was glad that Dorcas really didn't seem too upset about the whole odd ordeal. She followed Dorcas's lead, and put her clothes in a small dresser beside her bed. She pulled out a picture of her family that she had brought from home and placed it on top. She smiled sadly when she saw herself and Petunia from 2 years before, arms around each other, grinning broadly at the camera. She remembered that it was taken just a few weeks before she had met Severus…

Lily was sad to think that things might never be like that with her sister again. Petunia was certainly putting on a good show of hating her. She briefly wondered what her family was doing, then what she and Petunia would be doing right then if she hadn't gone to Hogwarts. They'd probably be sitting on Petunia's bed, whispering and giggling because they were supposed to be asleep. Lily felt more than a little homesick and sad at the idea, but shook the thought away. She wouldn't let herself be sad when she was finally where she had been dreaming of for years. Besides, Tuney was her sister. She was bound to forgive Lily eventually; they had their whole lives to get past this rough patch, after all. Lily comforted herself with the thought that by Christmas, Petunia will have likely forgotten all about this "freak" business and everything would go back to the way it used to be.

"Is that your family?" Lily jumped when she heard the voice directly beside her. She turned to see Perdita glancing curiously at the small photograph.

"God, you frightened me!" Perdita looked at Lily curiously again, making Lily feel even more self-conscious. Lily had to fight the urge to grab the picture away from Perdita who had picked it up to glance at it more closely, not sure why she had even had that impulse. "Yes, that's my family."

"It's so odd, no one is moving! Is something wrong with it?"

"No, it's just a muggle photograph. People don't move in muggle photos, they'd get all blurry."

"Muggles are so odd…You and your sister look nothing alike, you know." Perdita stated matter-of-factly, glancing from the picture back to Lily's face. "You look more like your mum, and she takes after your dad."

"Petunia's very pretty," Lily felt the need to defend her sister.

"Oh, sure sure! Of course, I didn't mean to say she wasn't." Perdita backtracked quickly. "I just meant that you two are very different."

Lily laughed without humor and muttered, "That's for sure…"

That night, Lily lay awake after everyone else had fallen asleep. She had moved from her bed to sit by the window, and watched as the rippling water of the lake made long black lines in the moon's reflection on the water. Gwydion was lying contentedly on her lap while she ran her fingers absentmindedly through his fur, letting her mind wander over what the next day would hold. She'd see Severus, which would be good. She hadn't spoken to him since before the sorting. She wondered how he had fared over at the Slytherin table and if he had met any friends. She would just have to ask him when she saw him. She found herself wondering whether Gryffindors and Slytherins were allowed to sit together at breakfast as her eyes began to droop…

* * *

Severus quickly bolted in the direction he had seen Lucius Malfoy disappear. He spotted him turning down a staircase and quietly followed as closely as he dared, making sure to keep enough distance between them that he could turn and bolt without being spotted if Lucius decided to turn around. They made their way down several staircases, and Severus realized they must be near the dungeons. He made a mental note of this in case he lost Malfoy before he got to the Slytherin Common Room.

As they made their way farther down into the dungeons of Hogwarts, Severus began to wonder what his excuse would be if he got caught by a professor. He could always say he just got lost and thought he saw a prefect heading this way… He needn't even mention names. Now, if Malfoy found him it would be an entirely different matter. Severus shook that thought from his head, and stopped before he turned the corner when he saw Malfoy slowing down.

Luckily Malfoy neglected to check if someone followed him, and walked confidently into a door near the end of the hall. Severus had to know what was going on in there. It could be his chance to get in with Malfoy and the other older Slytherins. He crept closer to the door, willing his footsteps to be silent. He could just barely make out voices coming from inside the room.

"-really necessary?"

"-almost ready- few weeks, at most…"

Severus knew he had to get closer if he wanted to hear everything they were saying. Severus squeezed his eyes shut and did his best not to breathe as he took a few more small steps toward the doorway.

"How many, exactly?" Severus was almost certain it was Malfoy's voice he heard.

"Five, six at most."

"We've been preparing it all Summer."

Severus couldn't place the other two voices, but that was to be expected. Maybe he could just catch a glimpse of them if he peaked through the open door. He doubted they would notice him…

"-sent to Azkaban. But that would frankly be the more merciful option." Malfoy asked. "If you fail, you needn't bother trying to escape the blame."

"We know that!" The second unknown voice was becoming irritated.

"We're prepared to do whatever is necessary to fulfill our duty." The first unknown voice seemed surprisingly calm, especially compared to others in the room.

"And what about you?" Malfoy asked a yet unseen fourth member of the group.

"I- I…" The boy paused, and Severus strained to hear the next words. "I think I hear someone outside."

Severus's heart jumped into his throat. He had to get out of there. Immediately. But he couldn't make his legs move, they had frozen in his fear. The footsteps were rapidly approaching the door.

"No- stay in here!"

Severus saw Lucius Malfoy appear in the doorway. He couldn't do anything but stare back at Malfoy's blank face. Even in his terrified state, Severus had to admire the way Lucius Malfoy could keep his face completely emotionless, giving nothing away. Malfoy stood in front of the doorway, effectively blocking its inhabitants from Severus's view.

"What did you hear?" Malfoy's voice was a deadly kind of calm. Severus knew he had only moments to decide on a course of action. He could either play dumb, acting like he had heard nothing, or he could try and turn the situation to his own advantage.

"What should I have heard?"

Malfoy seemed surprised by Severus's answer, and appraised him more carefully than before. Severus suddenly felt extremely self-conscious about his too-long pants, dirty old trainers, and greying robes. He knew Malfoy wouldn't be impressed by his appearance, so he'd have to use his brain if he was going to earn Malfoy's respect. Severus felt sure he had chosen wisely.

"Snape, was it not?" Malfoy asked, appearing disinterested. Slightly too disinterested, Severus thought to himself.

"Severus Snape."

"Well, Severus Snape, I think you and I need to have a chat." Lucius reached behind him and shut the door, still not allowing Severus to get a good view of the room's occupants. Malfoy began to lead him down the hall, back the way Severus remembered coming before. Only instead of going back up the stairs, Malfoy led him deeper into the dungeons until the older boy finally stopped, turning to face Severus with a suspicious look on his eyes. The rest of his face betrayed nothing.

"It's odd. You're a Slytherin, yet I've never heard you last name before," Malfoy started. Severus was taken aback by this line of thought. He wasn't sure what he was expecting Malfoy to say, but it certainly wasn't anything about his surname. "It's unusual for a Slytherin not to have an old name, a name worth knowing…" Malfoy, paused, watching Severus closely. Severus did his best to keep his face as blank as Malfoy was, trying to give away as little as possible.

"It makes one wonder, then, what business a boy with no family worth knowing has following someone else and attempting overhear things that have nothing to do with him." Malfoy's voice never raised or even revealed any emotion beyond polite disinterest. Severus got the distinct impression that Malfoy wasn't attempting to threaten him, at least not yet, as much as he was trying to size him up.

"You wouldn't have heard of it," Severus admitted, when he saw Malfoy's eyebrow raise a millimeter he quickly added, "You might have heard of mother's, though. Prince was her name."

Severus knew the name carried quite a bit of weight in the wizarding world. Not quite as much as Malfoy or Crouch, perhaps, but certainly more than most. He was willing to wager that Malfoy knew this as well, but Malfoy merely nodded as if Severus had merely told him the weather report rather than his family's bloodlines. He had been loath to admit it to Lily, but Slytherins valued more than just cunning in their house. Blood mattered, just as much, if not more than intelligence.

"I'll have to look into that," Malfoy muttered as if he was speaking to himself, but Severus had a feeling he was meant to have heard it. It was Malfoy's way of making sure Severus knew he wasn't off the hook yet. "I have a feeling we'll be speaking again very soon, Severus."

"I look forward to it," Severus responded, equally as formal.

Malfoy turned away from Severus and faced the wall behind them. Before Severus could wonder what going on, Malfoy clearly spoke the word, "Legilimens." A door-like opening appeared in the wall that had been previously been bare. Severus made a mental note to remember the password and the location of the Slytherin Common Room.

As Severus lay in his bed that night, he reflected on how much had happened that day. He was a little disappointed that Lily had been placed in Gryffindor. Well, more than a little disappointed if he was being honest. He wondered why she couldn't have just been sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, at lease. He refused to let this change anything, though. They would just have to be more careful about their friendship from now on. He consoled himself with the knowledge that he had not only been sorted into Slytherin, but had formed some kind of relationship with an older Slytherin who apparently had a lot of influence.

Severus frowned, remembering the conversation he had overheard. Apparently something was going to happen and soon. It must be serious, too, if Malfoy has mentioned Azkaban... Severus only wished that they had said what it was, or perhaps to have at least seen the other occupants of the room. He thought about telling Lily what he had heard, but had a feeling she would disapprove of his eavesdropping. Knowing her, she would try and get him to tell one of the professors, but Severus didn't think that was the best course of action at the moment. Things seemed to be going better than he could have hoped for so far, though, and Severus smiled to himself as he finally drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, so I've got a few things to tell everyone, but I promise I'll try and make it short and sweet. For those of you following this story, I wanted to let you know that I've pretty much decided on combining chapters 1 and 2 into one unified chapter, since they don't seem strong enough as stand alone chapters. This will most likely happen within the next few days, and I wanted to give you a heads up since this will change the numbering of the chapters. So this update will become Chapter 4 and then the next update will be Chapter 5,etc. I thought I should let you know to avoid confusion. Second thing is that I have written a Remus and Tonks one-shot that you guys should definitely check out! (You know, if you're into that sort of thing...) If you are interested, you can find it through my profile or by searching for "The Choice". I'd love it if you guys could check it out and let me know what you think! Lastly, I want to give a huge thanks to owleyes1213 for writing the fist review for this story! It meant more than I can say to hear back from a reader! So that about wraps this up, and sorry for how long this was!**

 **Many too-tight hugs,**

 **L**

 **Disclaimer: I think everyone knows by now that I don't own Harry Potter... But just in case you don't: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.**

* * *

 _"_ _Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars?"- Nora Roberts_

The rising sun lit up the first year girls' dormitory and woke Lily from a deep sleep. It was that perfect kind of sleep where you wake up and you're not sure if you had been asleep for hours or days, and you didn't have a single dream the whole time, and you end up feeling refreshed instead of groggy and exhausted. She smiled as she rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms above her. She sat up, eyes still closed against the sun, and was surprised to feel cold stone underneath her feet instead of carpet. She crinkled her face in confusion, and nearly fell off of the bed in shock when she finally opened her eyes and saw, not her bedroom, but a large, circular room with dark wood paneling and curtains made of a rich burgundy fabric containing four other beds.

It took her a few moments to remember where she was, and she suddenly felt stupid for having forgotten. She slid out of her bed, and heard soft snoring coming from two beds away. Realizing she must be the first awake, she grabbed her skirt and blouse from the wardrobe beside her bed and tiptoed across the room, into the bathroom that she and her roommates would share, making a mental note to close the curtains around her bed next time. Come to think of it, she didn't even remember getting into bed at all the night before. She shrugged, deciding she must have just been too tired to remember anything from last night, as she stepped into a warm shower.

By the time she was fully dressed and ready, the other girls were finally rousing themselves from their slumber and rubbing the sleep from the their eyes.

"If wizards do only one thing right, it's definitely these beds," Mary said reverently as she stretched out on top of her sheets.

"You've got that right," agreed Dorcas. "I don't think I've slept this well since my dad slipped a sleeping draught into my supper one Christmas so I wouldn't snoop through my presents after my family went to bed."

"Merlin, that sounds a bit extreme," Marlene said as she began making her bed.

"It was alright," Dorcas comforted her, "I had already gone through them all before they had even wrapped anything."

The girls heard a loud thump coming from the fifth bed, and looked over at Perdita who had rolled ungracefully out of her bed and onto the floor.

"Ugh, I hate these beds! They're so small. I mean, Merlin, we're human beings, not dogs. We need space to find our inner peace!"

"What's wrong? Are your cha-chas not agreeing with you this morning?" Dorcas asked Perdita seriously.

"My CHAKRAS are just fine, thank you very much. Well, perhaps they're a bit misaligned… Maybe I'll do some headstands…"

"I would give you my advice, but this is clearly out of depth. You just do what you need to so that your chimichangas are happy," Dorcas nodded to her sagely.

Lily heard Perdita mumble "chakras" under her breath one more time as she brushed past Dorcas into the bathroom. As soon as the girls heard the water running in the bathroom, they burst into laughter.

"Oh, Merlin, did you see her face?" Marlene gasped as she doubled over in laughter.

"She looked like she was about to knock your chakras out of alignment," Lily laughed, pointing at Dorcas.

Mary nodded in agreement. "You'd better watch what you say, Dorcas. She just might snap if you keep this up."

"I don't know what you're all talking about, I thought I was perfectly delightful this morning," Dorcas huffed as she finished tying her tie. Her smirk gave her away, though. "Besides, I doubt that anyone with such well-aligned churros as Perdita could ever lose their temper."

Lily snickered once more as the girls made their way out of the dormitory toward the common room.

"Do you lot suppose we can make it down to the Great Hall by ourselves or should we wait for-" Lily didn't even finish her question before she was interrupted by what sounded like a herd of stampeding elephants making their way down the stairs.

"-and Potter steals the quaffle from Pettigrew, but –oh, he gets hit by a bludger from Black. AND HE'S DOWN! Potter's fallen off his broom! MAN DOWN!" The words were punctuated by the sound of a body first hitting a wall and then tumbling down the last few stairs and into the common room. The body landed at the base of the stairs in a pile of robes and hair. Lily recognized the body as James Potter when he stood up and ran his hands through his messy hair, not improving it in the least.

"You prat, you pushed me down the stairs!" Potter rushed forward to pull Black into a headlock as the other boys made their way to the bottom of the stairs fully upright.

"You knew the risks! Dangerous game, quidditch!" Black tried to reason with his attacker, but Potter would have none of it.

Lily looked around the room, wondering if she should try and intervene, but Remus and Peter Pettigrew were grinning at the girls as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, then Potter and Black both began laughing loudly as they turned on Remus and Peter, pulling them into the fray.

"Whoa, there boys! It's not even eight o'clock yet. You're offending our delicate sensibilities!" Dorcas shouted over the boys' scuffle. The fighting suddenly halted as the boys looked first at Dorcas, then at each other, then back to Dorcas, and back to each other. Potter pulled Peter's leg out from under him and the fighting continued as if there had never been an interruption.

"Well, then." Dorcas huffed.

"I suppose that's fine if you don't mind missing breakfast," Lily added. The fighting once again grinded to a sudden halt as the boys froze at the mention of food.

"I don't know about you lads, but I'd rather not miss breakfast…" Remus stated. Peter just looked at Black and Potter, seeming to wait for the other boys' approval.

Black scoffed as if the idea of missing breakfast was laughable, but released Potter's arm nonetheless and dusted his robes off. Potter stood up to release Remus from the ground that he had had him pinned to, and offered him his hand to help him up before turning to the girls and straightening his tie.

"Breakfast it is, then." Potter led the way into out of the common room and into the 7th floor corridor. "Were you ladies just being kind waiting for us, or were you too afraid to venture out into the big scary castle all alone?"

"We were just looking out for the wellbeing of our fellow man. If you'd rather we hadn't, you can always go back and carry on with…whatever it was you were doing." Lily pointed out.

"No, no, I think I prefer this." Remus admitted, throwing Lily a grateful smile.

"Oh no! We left Perdita," Lily remembered. "Should we go back?"

"She's a big girl, she'll find her way," Dorcas said, leading the way down the staircase. "And if not, her Chihuahuas will guide her."

"They're chakras, Dorcas!" Marlene corrected her, laughing. "You'll never find your inner peace if you can't learn what they're called!"

Lily glanced back at the portrait of the Fat Lady, weighing her options. She could go back alone and wait for Perdita, but she honestly wasn't sure of the way to the Great Hall. Perdita probably had just as good a chance of finding the Great Hall with her as she did without her. Not to mention, going back for Perdita meant actually having to spend time with Perdita…

Her mind made up, Lily followed the rest of the group down toward the Great Hall, her stomach twisting in small guilty knots. She did her best to shake off her guilty thoughts, and tried to focus on the food laid out on the Gryffindor table. The feast for breakfast was just as impressive as the one the night before, only now there were eggs, sausages, breads, and assorted pastries. Lily sat between Mary and Marlene and poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice before helping herself to some of the eggs and some toast. She looked toward the Slytherin table to see if Severus had arrived yet, but she couldn't spot him. She briefly wondered what he was doing before she was distracted by the arrival of the mail.

Hundreds of owls flew overhead, dropping newspapers, letters from family, and packages of forgotten school supplies.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Lily asked the other Gryffindors before she realized no one was paying any attention to her or the owls. All eyes were focused on a bright red envelope sitting in front of Sirius Black. Sirius looked as if he were about to be sick.

"Go on, Sirius," Potter was nudging him. "It's best to just get it over with. You know what happens if you don't open it."

Potter, Peter, Marlene, and Dorcas all had the same look of dread on their faces as Sirius. Lily looked at Mary, and saw her expression of confusion reflected in Mary's face. The girls shrugged at each other and turned to watch as Sirius broke the seal on the letter.

The letter flew open and took the form of a woman's mouth, hovering in front of Sirius's face. Lily nearly jumped out of her seat when the letter appeared to sneer at Sirius and a voice broke the relative silence of the first years' area of the Gryffindor table.

 _"Well, well, well. I suppose I should have expected no less from the disappointment of the Noble House of Black,"_ Sirius's face appeared to lose some of it's color as the letter continued, _"but even I didn't quite see this one coming. You never could do what you were supposed to. Luckily my dear niece informed your father and I of your failure last night."_

By this time most of the Gryffindor table and a few people from other houses had turned to listen in on who Lily assumed to be Sirius's mother deriding him. Sirius's eyes flashed to the Slytherin table, and Lily followed his line of sight to two older girls sitting beside each other. One had waist-length chestnut hair and a rather resigned expression on her face, while the other had platinum blonde hair and wore a rather superior smirk as she watched Sirius.

" _It is a shame dear Narcissa was my sister's daughter and I got stuck with you. At least I have your brother to make up for what you lack as a son. Regulus is such a good boy, so respectful to his mother and reverent of his family's history. It's too late now to remedy your mistakes, but if you have any sense of propriety and familial honor I had better not hear of you associating with any mudbloods. It is the least you could do after all that you've put your family through. Walburga Black."_

The letter disintegrated into thin air once it had spoken its last words, leaving the entire Great Hall in silence. It seemed everyone had been listening by the end of the letter. Sirius's face had lost none of its paleness, though it had gained a good dose of disgust and just a flash of something else Lily didn't quite recognize. But as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.

Slowly, the rest of the room seemed to regain their mental faculties and began talking in low voices. After five minutes, only the first year Gryffindors remained silent. Every face held the same disgust as Sirius's except Mary and Lily's. Mary's face was full of concern, while Lily felt her face turn first in sympathy, and then in confusion.

Lily was surprised to see Sirius open his mouth as if to speak, before closing it again. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts before he tried to speak again. He lifted his fork, moving the food on his plate around as he spoke. "Lovely woman, my mother. I know Satan has a particular fondness for her."

"Sirius, -" Potter began, but was interrupted by Sirius.

"I apologize for that rude interruption to everyone's breakfast. What were we saying before?"

"We were just wondering about our schedules," Potter said, eyeing everyone in the table seriously, as if daring them to try and bring the letter up again. Peter and Dorcas soon joined in the conversation, and eventually all but Remus and Lily had either forgotten about the letter or were putting on a very good show of it. Remus looked nearly as sick as Sirius had earlier, and Lily was still wondering what Walburga Black had meant by "mudblood".

Soon Professor McGonagall called everyone to order and began calling everyone's names alphabetically to retrieve their class schedules. All of the first year Gryffindors' schedules were identical, and they made their way from the Great Hall toward the dungeons for Potions. Lily glanced about her and realized that with all of the excitement that had gone on that morning, no one had noticed Perdita had never arrived at breakfast.

"Marlene," Lily whispered to the girl beside her.

"Hmm?"

"Perdita didn't show up to breakfast, did she?"

"No, I guess she didn't…"

"You don't think anything happened to her, do you?"

Marlene seemed to take Lily's question into serious consideration before answering. "No. Hogwarts is the safest place in the world. Maybe she just decided she wasn't hungry or got distracted trying to align her chakras… She's probably waiting for us down in the dungeons as we speak."

Lily nodded, pretending to be pacified by this answer. Her stomach rolled uncomfortably, though, when they arrived at the dungeons and she saw no sign of Perdita. She glanced at Marlene, whose face was also beginning to show signs of concern. She brightened up, though, when she saw different dark head of hair sitting alone at one of the tables.

"Severus!"

He turned back when he heard a voice call his name, and smiled when he saw its source. Lily rushed over to the empty seat beside him, immediately bombarding him with questions.

"How was your first night? Did you make any new friends? It's too bad we're in different houses, but at least we're both happy, right? I know you were really hoping for Slytherin. Where is the Slytherin common room anyhow?" Lily realized she hadn't given him time to answer any of her questions, and stopped to glance at him sheepishly. His attention wasn't on her, though, because he was glaring at something behind her. "What's wrong?"

Severus merely gestured behind her, and turned back to his open book that was lying on the table. Lily turned to see the rest of her Housemates staring at the two of them with open mouths. Dorcas, Marlene, and Peter looked shocked that Lily seemed to know Severus. Potter and Black wore identical grimaces of disgust. Remus merely looked incredibly confused. Only Mary seemed to take Lily's actions in stride, though she made no move towards the pair.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked again, this time aiming the question toward her fellow Gryffindors.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all, Brutus. Though next time you stab us in the back, at least wait until we're not looking at you." Potter stared at her in disgust.

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, genuinely dumbfounded at the sudden animosity coming from her Housemates. And they had been getting along so well before this…

"Just forget it, traitor." Potter said, taking a seat behind Lily and Severus.

Lily looked back at Severus for an explanation. He merely shrugged, and told her not to worry about it. Lily couldn't stop herself from getting upset, though. _Great_ , she thought _, I've gone from freak to traitor in less than twenty-four hours. That must be some kind of record_. _And I don't even know what I've done wrong!_

Lily decided to put James Potter's animosity out of her head for the moment. She had bigger things to worry about, such as the fact that Perdita had yet to make an appearance and class would begin in less than five minutes.

"There's nothing dangerous in this castle, right Severus?" Lily asked.

"You tell me, you're the one who read _Hogwarts, A History_ ," he joked.

"Well, you know what I mean. Like things they wouldn't put in a textbook."

Severus's face became serious, and he seemed to be considering her question very carefully before he shook his head at her. "I doubt it."

Lily nodded, slightly reassured by this. "You never answered my questions," Lily told him grinning.

"It was good," he told her vaguely.

"And?"

"Kind of. Yes, it is too bad. I'm very happy. In the dungeons." He numbered the answers off with his fingers. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, when did you get so cheeky?" she joked, nudging him. He shot her a smile back before a wad of paper hit the back of his head. His head shot around, and he immediately caught sight of Potter and Black looking pointedly at anything except Severus.

"Prats…"

"What was that?" Lily asked, not having seen what happened.

"Rats. I was just wondering if the potion we're making would need rat spleen."

"Oh. All right then..."

The clock struck nine and Lily had to fight the urge to whimper. Perdita had still not shown up. She looked over at the other girls, who were also beginning to show signs of worrying. Mary was biting her fingernail, and shot Lily a panicked a look. Marlene was looking downcast at the table in front of her. Only Dorcas was trying to put on a confidant air, though Lily could see her leg bouncing anxiously under the table, and she kept glancing toward the door every few seconds.

A squat, blading man with an enormous mustache second only to his enormous midsection entered the classroom, and called for everyone's attention.

"I am Professor Slughorn, the Potions master here at Hogwarts. We're going to begin today by going over basic brewing techniques. If you'll turn in your textbooks to page-"

The door to the classroom flew open and a blur of robes and dark hair rushed into the classroom. Lily let out a breath of relief when she realized it was Perdita, red-faced and panting.

"Sorry- late- there was- and I-" Perdita attempted to explain her tardiness through her gasps.

"Yes, yes, it's fine Miss-?"

"Padmore."

"Yes, Miss Padmore, if you'd please take a seat. Anywhere will do."

Perdita headed toward the empty seat beside Mary, tossing her bad on the ground and practically falling into the chair.

"Yes, well then, where was I? Ah yes, proper brewing technique…"

Once Perdita caught her breath, her face became pale and drawn. Lily thought that she seemed to be avoiding eye contact with any of the other Gryffindor girls, but she couldn't be sure. She finally turned her attention back to Professor Slughorn, taking detailed notes on everything he said. Lily always thought that Hogwarts would be far more interesting than primary school had been, but she hadn't realized how much more interesting. She found herself hanging on to every word the Potions Master said, from cauldron size to the proper way to stir to what it meant to boil, heat, or simmer a potion.

A quick glance around the room told her that that wasn't the case for everyone. Although Severus seemed to be paying as rapt attention to the professor as she was, Dorcas had a glazed look in her eyes, Marlene was beginning to slump over in her chair, and there was constant hushed laughter coming from the table directly behind them. Slughorn seemed to notice this at the same time Lily did, and he quickly finished his lecture with instructions to read up on the potion they would be brewing on Thursday before he released them.

Perdita rushed out the door before anyone else had a chance to get out of their seats. Lily stared after her, hoping she knew where she was going.

"That was great, wasn't it?" Severus asked her.

"Oh my God, yes!" Lily exclaimed, all thoughts of Perdita vanishing from her head. "There are so many things that go into brewing a potion I never even thought of!" Lily didn't try to hide her enthusiasm, despite the looks she was getting from a few of the other Gryffindors.

"Potions is child's play," James Potter said behind her. Lily and Severus both turned to glare at him. "If you want to see real magic you'll have to wait until Defense Against the Dark Arts. But maybe you prefer to take a more offensive stance on the dark arts, eh Slytherin?"

Severus's face curled into a grimace as a stared at James Potter, who merely smirked back. "I'm impressed, Potter."

"By how well I know you already?"

"No, that you managed to put two three-syllable words in one sentence. That must be a record for you."

"I know quite a few actually. Maybe you're familiar with some of them: sniveling, cowardly, revolting…"

Severus's hands curled into fists and his face flushed red. "Do you think you're clever, Potter?"

"Exceedingly. Oh look, that was four! As much as I'd love to stay and chat about it, I think we best be off now," Potter said. "We wouldn't want to be late for transfiguration, right Evans?"

Lily shot Potter a glare before turning back to Severus. "I hate to admit it, but he's right, we should be going. I'll see you later?" Severus nodded shortly in reply, and stood to leave for his next class. Before he could make it past Potter and Black, though, a foot shot out from underneath their table and caught on Severus's leg, sending him sprawling across the floor.

Potter and Black roared with laughter. "Careful, Snivellus. You'd better not leave a grease spot there. Someone else might slip in it," Black mocked him, causing Potter to laugh even harder. Severus quickly picked himself up off of the floor and gathered his scattered belongings.

"You'll regret that," Severus warned them severely, before rushing out of the room.

"Bye, Snivellus! Have a good day!" Black shouted to his retreating back.

"What's wrong with you two?" Lily confronted Potter and Black as they made their way to the Transfiguration classroom.

"What are you talking about, Evans?" Potter asked her superiorly.

"I mean, why did you have to be so mean to him? He didn't do anything to you."

"He's a Slytherin. That's about the worst thing a person can do," he reasoned. "What's the matter with you, wanting to get all friendly with one of their sort?" he shot back at her.

Lily's retort froze in her throat when she saw Dorcas nodding her head in agreement.

"I didn't realize there were rules at Hogwarts that you weren't allowed to have friends from a different house." Lily stated coldly.

"It's not a Hogwarts rule, it's common decency! And sure you can have friends from other houses… As long as that house isn't Slytherin."

"Well I'll just have to make sure to check with you next time before I decide to make any other friends," Lily shot at him.

"That's not necessary, Evans. I'm not your mum. Though, I am willing to give consultations at a small fee…"

Lily ignored his last statement and sped up to walk with Mary and Marlene. She didn't think she would be able to stand another moment talking to James Potter.

* * *

"I still don't think it's true."

"Why not? It makes sense. She has that same unimpressed and displeased look about her."

"She doesn't look agile enough. Too stiff."

"My cousin told me that she's seen her transform into a cat. She's definitely an animagus." Sirius whispered fiercely.

"Your _Slytherin_ cousin?" James pointed out, as if that fact alone made any and all arguments moot.

"Mr. Potter, perhaps you'd care to demonstrate for the class how to properly perform the spell?" McGonagall gazed disapprovingly at James, her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"That's all right Professor, I think you've got a good handle on it." James smiled at her before turning back to Sirius. A few of the students snickered at his audacity. Evans turned back to gaze at him disbelievingly, while Dorcas attempted to cover up her snort with her hand.

"Perhaps you misunderstood me, Mr. Potter. Perform the spell," she directed him, her expression expectant.

"If you insist…" James muttered, and turned his attention to the book in front of him. He moved his wand in the formation McGonagall had drawn on the board and clearly spoke the incantation. The match immediately began to become thin and pointed, gaining a silver sheen. He was left with a perfectly formed needle.

A few of the other students applauded, and McGonagall seemed unsure whether to frown disapprovingly or smile reluctantly. Her mouth settled somewhere in between the two as she quickly and wordlessly transformed the bird back into its original form.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," she nodded before turning back to the class. "Now the rest of you practice what Mr. Potter here so kindly demonstrated."

The rest of the class went without a hitch, as James sat back and watched the other students struggle. Only Sirius managed to perform the spell on his first try, though Evans, Remus, and two of the Ravenclaws in the class, Kathleen Oliver and Andrew Cavey, managed to successfully perform the spell by the end of class. McGonagall dismissed the class with directions to practice the spell for homework for those who did not manage to successfully turn their matches into needles.

"You may all be dismissed to lunch," she told the students. Before James could make it to the door, she called out, "except for you, Potter. I'd like to have a word."

Sirius shot him an apologetic look before grabbing his books and leaving with the other Gryffindors.

"Yes, Professor?" He asked her once all of the other students had left.

"You showed considerable talent in transfiguration today, Mr. Potter."

"Well, thank you, Professor," he said, surprised at where she had taken the conversation. Emboldened by her praise, he added with a smirk, "I am a man of many talents."

"Whether or not that may be the case, Mr. Potter, I feel it necessary to warn you that you will not continue to succeed in this class if you cannot manage to pay attention. I made an exception today, but you can be sure that it will not happen again."

"Of course, Professor," he said with a nod. "May I go now?"

"You may," she allowed.

James began to make his way toward the door before he remembered his conversation with Sirius.

"Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes, Potter?"

"I heard a rumor that you were an animagus, and I was just wondering if- well, er- if you, you know, really were one?"

"Rumors are not exactly a reliable source of information, Potter, as I'm sure you'll learn here at Hogwarts with time."

"Yes, professor," James said with a smile, pleased that he had been proven correct in his argument with Sirius. He gathered his belongings and made towards the exit.

"Have a good day, professor," he turned to bid her farewell, but realized she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, sitting on her desk was a silver tabby cat with unusual markings around its eyes. James shook his head at this, and decided that McGonagall must have a pet cat.

James was surprised to see Sirius waiting for him outside the classroom leaning against the corridor wall.

"What did McGonagall want? She didn't tear into you too much, did she? I hear she's the strictest professor here."

"She just wanted to tell me she was impressed by my obvious natural skill in transfiguration," James told Sirius with a smirk.

'Come off it, she must have said something else," Sirius argued in disbelief as they neared the Great Hall.

"Just that I was a very talented young man with a lot of potential."

"You're a right liar, but that's fine. If you want to keep your meeting with McGonagall a secret, I understand," Sirius said flippantly, though his expression said otherwise.

They arrived at the Gryffindor table, and quickly took their seats near the other first years, where Marlene was explaining to the others about their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

"My dad told me that no one lasts more than a year teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Apparently the job has been cursed since Dumbledore refused to hire You-Know-Who. I do hope this one lasts, though."

"So do most of the female population here, I'd venture to say," Evans pointed out. Sure enough, more than a few girls from fifth, sixth, and seventh year were shooting Professor Sayer longing looks. "But what do you mean, 'You-Know-Who'?" she asked Marlene.

"You don't know about Voldemort?" Sirius practically shouted.

"Should I?" Lily asked.

"I've no idea who you're talking about either," Mary admitted quietly.

"They couldn't know, Sirius, they're muggle born," James shrugged.

"Still, how can you not know about the most powerful wizard in the world?" Sirius asked, still dumbfounded at the girls' ignorance.

"Second most powerful wizard," Peter corrected Sirius. "Dumbledore's still the first, right?"

"You-Know-Who's the most powerful DARK wizard in the world," Dorcas clarified. "He's been gaining followers for years, trying to set up a 'new order', or at least that's what my dad says. They're mostly just big bullies, go around terrorizing people so that they'll do whatever You-Know-Who wants."

"Why do you call him that? 'You-Know-Who'?" Evans asked.

"Most people are too scared to say his real name," James explained, glancing at Sirius as he said this. "Probably think saying his name will make him appear or something…"

"Are there lots of people like that? Dark wizards?" Mary asked, looking concerned.

"There are some…They're not too hard to find once you know where to look, though," James said, nodding towards the Slytherin table.

'That seems slightly unfair to assume that someone's a dark wizard just because they're a Slytherin," Evans pointed out.

"The numbers aren't exactly in their favor," James argued. "Read the Prophet and I can guarantee you that at least nine out of every ten wizards caught for performing dark magic was a Slytherin."

"I still think that's a bit prejudiced," Evans said, her mouth set in a hard line.

'Think what you want, but it's the truth," James shrugged.

"James is right, Evans," Sirius finally spoke. "Slytherins love dark magic, they can't help it. It's either just born into them or beaten into them by their parents."

James saw that Evans was contemplating arguing, but she seemed to hold back whatever she was going to say. _Probably because of the letter this morning_ , James decided. Evans's shoulders slumped and she remained silent as they walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts. James smiled to himself, taking this as a victory.

James and Sirius immediately headed towards a table at the very front of the room, the rest of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs trailing in behind them. Once everyone was seated, Professor Sayer entered the room from his office.

"Afternoon, everyone. I trust you all had a good first day of classes." There were murmurs of assent from the class before he continued. "I'm Professor Sayer, your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Learning how to defend yourselves against dark magic is one of the most important things you will learn to do here at Hogwarts, especially in times like these. Now is the time to learn all that you can about how to protect yourself from the dark arts, and I'm going to do my best to help you with that. Any questions?"

There were blank stares from the first years as they tried to fully digest everything he had just told them. James was grinning in anticipation, and was nudging Sirius in his excitement.

"Perhaps that was a bit much to start with… I should probably explain a bit about myself, yes?" The students continued to stare at him as if he was speaking a foreign language. "Right, well, I too was educated at Hogwarts; I was a Gryffindor like about half of you in this room." James let out a whoop of approval, causing Professor Sayer to grin and a few of the Hufflepuffs to roll their eyes. "I graduated about 5 years ago and worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures until Professor Dumbledore asked me to come teach. Now you all know my life story, and I suppose I ought to teach you something."

James was slightly disappointed that the lesson wasn't on anything terribly exciting, like vampires or werewolves or zombies. Professor Sayer had decided to start them off with a simple charm to light the tips of their wands because "you can't fight the dark arts if you can't even find your way in the dark." Sayer turned the lights off in the classroom and drew the blinds so that the students could practice performing the spell. He finished the class with instructions to continue practicing the charm and to read the chapter of their textbook on Bowtruckles.

"Is there a Remus Lupin in this class?" Sayer asked before he released them. Remus raised his hand, and Sayer nodded at him with a smile. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with you in my office after class."

The way he said it left little doubt about whether or not Remus would be going. James and Sirius shot Remus a curious look, wondering what the boy had done to warrant this attention. He hadn't misbehaved; he'd been doing precisely what Sayer had instructed. He had successfully performed the spell, but so had about a quarter of the class, so that didn't demand any special praise.

Once class had ended, all of the students except for Remus gathered their belongings and moved out into the hall.

"Do you think someone should wait for Remus and walk with him to the greenhouses?" Evans asked, looking concerned. Perdita Padmore threw her a disbelieving glance when she said this that James didn't quite understand.

"Sirius and I will wait," James offered. "You all go ahead, we'll catch up." Sirius nodded in agreement, and the rest of the first years shrugged before they walked down the hall toward the moving staircases.

They waited out in the hall for about ten minutes before Remus appeared with an indiscernible expression on his face.

"Hey, Remus. We were just waiting for you," James told the boy with a grin.

"Oh, well thanks," Remus said with a tentative smile.

"What did Sayer want?" Sirius asked, cutting straight to the point. James shot him a glare.

"Oh- he just, er- well he wanted to, um… ask about my father. My dad works in the same department that he's from and I guess they used to know each other…" Remus haltingly explained.

"Oh," James said, accepting Remus's reason. "Well that makes sense."

Sirius merely shrugged before changing the subject to the complete uselessness of bowtruckles. James could have sworn he heard Remus let out a sigh of relief as they headed down the staircases toward the greenhouses.

* * *

Severus had yet to see Lily alone since they had gotten to Hogwarts, so when he saw her leave the Great Hall after dinner without the usual crowd surrounding her, he quickly followed suit.

"Lily!" he called once they were out of view of the Great Hall.

She turned and smiled when she saw who it was. "Severus! Where are you going?"

Severus blushed when he realized he had no real reason to be going upstairs behind her. He rushed to think up an excuse, "I was just, er, going to the library and I saw you were going the same way so…"

He breathed out a sigh of relief when Lily didn't seem to suspect that is answer was anything less than the truth.

"So how did the rest of your classes go?" Lily asked him while they walked together.

"Well, I think. I just had Charms, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Charms was quite good, I think you'll like it."

"Ollivander said my wand would be good for charm work…"

"And he's never wrong. At least that's what everyone says."

"What did you think of Professor Sayer?" Lily asked. "All of the Gryffindors love him."

Severus wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Seemed a bit full of himself, if you ask me. Probably going to play favorites with the Gryffindors, too. Most of the upperclassmen that were here while he was head boy said he never took points from his own house. The only thing that kept Slytherin from coming in last place in the house cup was that the Head Girl was from Slytherin."

Lily frowned at this information. "I didn't know he was Head Boy… And I don't think he'd play favorites, he is a professor. Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard in the world, I'm sure he wouldn't hire someone who would abuse their position."

"I've heard that Dumbledore's losing his touch a bit…"

"What do you mean? Lily asked, stopping. They had reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

"Just something I've heard people saying."

"People can be wrong… I've got to go practice some of those spells and I want to get ahead on the reading. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Oh, and Sev?" she asked before entering going through the portrait hole.

"Yeah?"

"The library is on the first floor," she smiled before the portrait swung closed.

Severus turned back toward the moving staircase with a small smile on his face. He was about to walk down the stairs when he noticed a platinum blond head just a few feet a way from him.

"Severus," the voice greeted arrogantly.

"Lucius," Severus replied with a nod.

"I looked into it," he said vaguely.

"And?"

"Your family has quite an... interesting past. Acceptable enough, but I still wonder why your mother would choose to marry a muggle…"

"You can believe me that she regretted her choice after the fact," Severus said, cringing at the note of bitterness that filled his statement. He had been hoping he would be better at controlling his displays of emotion this time around.

"I have no doubt of that. However, it would appear that you seem to share that same proclivity as your mother."

"What do you mean?"

"That little red haired girl, she's a muggle isn't she?"

"She's magical too, she goes to school here," Severus corrected him.

"But she wasn't born from magical parents. So how could she be magical?"

"Sometimes muggles have magical children…" Severus said, confused as to why he had to explain this.

"That's true. But one has to wonder where the magic comes from…"

Severus realized that he had no explanation for this, and remained silent.

"Just something to think about," Lucius said with a smug grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You should be careful of the people you associate with, Severus. People may get the wrong idea about you."

Severus still had no idea what to make of this conversation. It seemed that Lucius was trying to tell him something, but Severus had no idea what.

"As it is, I came to invite you to a little gathering we'll be holding in the seventh year dormitories tomorrow night."

Severus's fought to keep his expression neutral, but secretly he was thrilled to be included in whatever Lucius and the older students were planning. It was better than anything he could have hoped for, to be so accepted and included so soon.

"I'll be there," he told Lucius flatly. Lucius once again gave him that small, questionably sincere smile before turning and leaving Severus alone and wondering what the following night would hold for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I would like to say a huge thank you to those who have reviewed and/or favorited this story! It means so much to me to hear back that people are enjoying the story! I would like to encourage anyone who has been reading to leave a review and let me know what you like/don't like about the story because it helps me to improve and know what you guys are thinking!**

 **Love,**

 **L**

 **Disclaimer: *insert clever witticism about how I own nothing related to Harry Potter except a few OCs and this plot line here***

* * *

" _Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see."- The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever"_

Lily once again felt the guilt rising up in her stomach when she looked around the common room and realized Perdita was nowhere to be found. Remus was sitting at a table in the corner with Peter. There was a match sitting on the table in front of them, and Peter's face had turned red with concentration as he stared at it. Remus was whispering something to him, and Lily decided it would be best to leave them be.

She spotted Dorcas, Marlene, and Mary sitting by the fire watching Potter and Black play some sort of game with cards, their wands out. When she got closer she realized that the cards were moving around at a blinding pace and some were beginning to glow.

"What-" Lily began, but was interrupted by one of the cards suddenly combusted, causing all six of them to jump back.

"What did you do to it?!" Lily asked, shocked.

"Nothing, that's the problem!" Sirius explained, as if it should have been obvious.

"It's exploding snap," Dorcas explained. "If you don't find the match, the cards explode. Bit of an added challenge to normal muggle card games; makes it more exciting."

"And more dangerous," Marlene added. "My uncle still has a scar on his nose from when he got a little too close."

Lily cringed before asking, "Have any of you seen Perdita?"

Potter and Black both shook their heads without looking at her, their attention having already returned to their game.

"I think I saw her go up to the dormitory a few minutes ago," Mary said with a frown. "I didn't think to ask her if she wanted to sit with us."

"I'm sure she didn't mind," Dorcas tried to reassure her. "Games like this would probably throw her psyche off of its delicate balance."

"Well, I feel awful about this morning. I think we should apologize…" Lily told the other girls.

"Why?!" Dorcas asked, as if Lily had lost her mind.

"If we had waited for her she wouldn't have missed breakfast and been late for Potions. She's probably really upset at us." Lily couldn't say she'd blame her if she were upset with them.

"If it means that much to you, we can go talk to her," Marlene tried to play the mediator despite Dorcas's disbelieving expression. "You too, Dorcas. Don't give me that face! All of us left her so all of us should go talk to her."

Marlene nodded towards the stairway and Lily smiled at her in appreciation. Dorcas huffed in indignation, but led the way up to the girls' dormitory nonetheless. Dorcas opened the door, but immediately shut it and turned towards the other girls with an odd expression.

"I think we should come back later," Dorcas whispered

"What? Why?" Marlene questioned her.

"Just trust me," Dorcas said, trying to fight her way through the crowded stairwell.

"Don't go anywhere, Dorcas Meadowes! You're coming with us whether you like it or not," Marlene grabbed her by the arm despite Dorcas's struggling and pulled her towards the door. Marlene opened the door, but shut it just as quickly as Dorcas had.

"See?!" Dorcas shout-whispered.

"Well, that was odd…" Marlene admitted.

"What was odd?" Mary asked.

"You've all gone barmy, I'm going in," Lily made her way to the door and threw it open. "Perdit- AH! What are you doing?!"

In the middle of the room, Perdita was standing on her head with her feet high in the air.

"Finding my inner peace, what does it look like?"

"Er, do you think you could possibly find it standing right ways up, or maybe even sitting? We were hoping to talk to you…" Lily tried to speak normally, but was finding it difficult while staring at the other girl's feet.

"You can talk, I'm listening."

Lily looked around at the other girls, who just nodded at her to start. Lily took a deep breath, trying to get over the bizarreness of the situation.

"Well, we, er, just wanted to tell you that we were sorry that we didn't wait for you this morning… And, er, we feel really horrible about it, especially since you were late to Potions."

Perdita seemed to be thinking about what Lily said, though for all Lily knew she could have just been ignoring her. It was hard to tell when the person she was talking to was upside down. Lily garnered as much confidence as she could before she continued.

"When we didn't see you at breakfast or lunch or dinner, we just got a little concerned and wanted to make sure you weren't, you know, upset or anything?" she cringed when she realized it sounded more like a question that a statement.

The room fell silent again, as they waited for Perdita to speak.

"I'm not angry," she said.

"Oh, well that's good. You didn't get lost or anything, right?"

"No, I didn't." Perdita's voice was flat and it left Lily slightly disconcerted. She was used to living with Petunia, who always immediately told Lily if she was upset. Lily wasn't quite sure where she stood with Perdita.

"Oh, ok. I guess we'll just leave you alone then…" Lily let her voice trail off as she and the other girls turned to leave.

"You will wait for me next time?"

Lily turned to see Perdita's upside down face looking concerned.

"Yes, of course," Lily said, trying to smile at the other girl.

"Ok, good."

With that, Lily took it that the conversation was over and led the way into the stairwell. Mary quietly shut the door behind them as they walked back toward the common room. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Dorcas exploded.

"Ok, you can't tell me that girl isn't crazy now. She's a few inches short of a wand, if you know what I mean."

"She's just…" Mary began.

"A nutter?" Dorcas suggested.

"I was going to say _unique._ "

"Did something seem off about her?" Marlene asked.

"I don't know, maybe _everything_?! She's an off person!" Marlene attempted to shush Dorcas, but she wouldn't be quieted. "I don't care what any of you say, she's off her trolley!"

"Thank you for that, but that's not quite what I meant," Marlene shook her head. "She just seemed rather…disturbed."

"I think you're right, Marlene. She did seem unlike herself." Lily considered Perdita's behavior from before. Even ignoring the fact that she was standing on her head, she didn't glance at any of them once. Perdita seemed one to talk for days if everyone else would allow her, but she would barely speak more than four words at a time.

"You wouldn't be yourself either if you were standing on your head!" Dorcas practically shouted.

"You don't think something happened while she was alone, do you?" Lily asked the other girls, ignoring Dorcas's comment.

"We can't know unless she decides to tell us," Mary pointed out.

"Look, in my opinion you're all overthinking this. Perdita is an odd person who does odd things for odd reasons. If you construed her behavior as being slightly _off_ , that is because you are a sane individual. Besides, nothing could have happened to her, she's at Hogwarts for Merlin's sake! I think we should all just move on and accept Perdita's behavior for what it is: that of a girl who is known to be at least slightly mental." Dorcas finished with a nod as she threw herself onto the couch.

Lily still couldn't shake her feeling of uneasiness as she sat with the other girls. She promised herself that she would try and get something out of Perdita the next day, and the thought made her feel a bit better than before.

* * *

The Gryffindor girls struggled to keep up with the boys as they practically ran down the stairs from the Astronomy tower.

"Is all this running-really necessary? The grounds- are still going to be there-whether we get there in two minutes-or ten," Lily gasped, struggling to get the words out while running.

"Evans, I'll forgive your ignorance about flying since you're muggleborn, but after today, never again question why we are running to get to flying lessons," Potter barely even looked back at her when he said this. He was leading the stampede towards the grounds, and only slightly slowed his pace once the Herbology Greenhouses came into view.

Once they had reached the training grounds, the boys eagerly made their way towards the broomsticks that were lying on the grass until the instructor, Madame Hooch, yelled at them to wait until she gave them directions. Lily couldn't help herself from smirking slightly at this. Madame Hooch told them to form a line and wait until the Slytherins arrived.

"I don't know why they make us take flying lessons," Perdita said, glancing apprehensively at the pile of broomsticks. "It isn't like we're all going to be playing quidditch."

"Brooms are good for more than just quidditch," Dorcas told her, rolling her eyes. "How do you expect to get around before you can apparate?"

"Floo Powder, Port Keys, walking…" Perdita listed off.

"You're not much fun, are you?" Dorcas asked, and Perdita merely shook her head with a sarcastic smile.

A few minutes later, Lily spotted Severus and the other Slytherins as they arrived. She waved at Severus who gave a small smile and gave a lift of his hand in return. Madame Hooch lined the Slytherins up parallel to the Gryffindors, and they all waited while she laid a broomstick beside each student. Potter and Black were practically bouncing up and down at the opposite end of the line.

"All right, we're going to start off very simple today. I want everyone to listen very closely to all of my instructions. The last thing we need is someone going to the hospital wing on the first day…" Lily glanced around to see if anyone else found this as disconcerting as she did. Everyone else seemed to take it in stride, but then she and Mary were the only ones who had no experience with flying broomsticks. Perdita was looking a little green as she looked doubtfully at her broom.

"Brooms, very much like wands, can have a mind of their own when it comes to who they will listen to. One needs to be respectful, while also conveying confidence and control," Madame Hooch explained.

Potter and Black were grinning madly at each other, while Lily glanced over at Severus. Severus had an extremely skeptical look on his face, as if the idea of a broom having a mind of its own was laughable. Lily supposed it was rather funny to think about, but she couldn't ignore the first real advice she had been given regarding dealing with enchanted objects.

"Now, we are going to begin by picking up our brooms." Lily and Mary were about to bend down, but Madame Hooch stopped them. "Not like that. I want you told hold out your right hand and say 'up'."

Lily saw Potter and Black laughing at her mistake, and blushed deeply. She had been trying so hard to not appear completely ignorant. She watched as James Potter instructed his broom in a confident voice and it immediately flew into his hand. She might have been impressed if he didn't immediately begin smirking and laughing at the Slytherins who were not quite as lucky. Black was equally as successful as Potter had been, and joined him in his mocking of the other students.

Lily glanced down at her broom uncertainly, attempting to prepare herself. She looked straight ahead and in a calm voice instructed the broom, "Up." It wiggled a bit, but remained on the ground. Her heart sank as she watched Dorcas Meadowes' broom fly into her hand on her second try. A few of the Slytherins had gotten it, and were glancing proudly around at the other students. Severus was glaring at his broom, which was jumping around on the ground but refused to come near his hand. She could watch him growing more and more frustrated by the second.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back at her broom and tried to copy the voice she had heard Potter use. "Up!" she instructed the broom as confidently as she could. This time it lifted about a foot in the air before dropping back to the ground. Sighing in frustration, she watched as Potter twirled his broom in his hands and felt a small tinge of annoyance that she couldn't quite explain.

"It's all right, Lily," Marlene whispered beside her. "You're doing really well considering you're a muggleborn."

Although Marlene had only meant to comfort her, this made Lily feel worse. She didn't want people holding her to a lower standard just because she was less informed about the magical world. Lily looked back at her broom and told herself that she was just as good as Potter and Black and just as capable of making her broom listen to her. With this mantra running through her head, she held her hand out and softly said, "Up."

She nearly fell over in shock when the broom jumped into her hand. She looked at Severus, who was watching her with a slightly disappointed expression on his face. When he saw her looking, though, he quickly smiled and gave her a thumbs up before turning back to his own unruly broomstick with a grimace.

Once half of the class had succeeded in lifting their brooms, Madame Hooch had the class split into two, and took those who had been successful in making their broom obey a few yards away to practice flying.

"You are all going to put one leg over your broom, keep a firm grasp on the handle, kick off, and then allow yourself to hover. You will go no more than two feet in the air, am I understood?" They all nodded, and Madame Hooch left to help the other students.

Lily looked around and copied the movements of everyone around her. She straddled her broom and kicked off the ground, nearly falling off when it lifted off the ground. She clung to the broom with all of her might, terrified of the distance between her feet and the ground. It wasn't that she was afraid of heights, per se, she would just prefer not to be have a piece of wood being the only thing that separates her very breakable body from the very hard ground. One of the Slytherin girls, Imogen Mallory, seemed to share her distaste and immediately returned to the ground after her initial ascent.

Potter and Black, on the other hand, were already rising above the two-foot limit despite Marlene's protests.

"Come back down! You're going to get in trouble!" she scolded them.

"Calm down, McKinnon. Hooch is too busy trying to help the vertically challenged to worry about us," Black rolled his eyes at her.

"Vertically challenged means short," Marlene corrected him.

"I said what I meant."

Lily looked back to see what he meant, and sure enough, little Peter Pettigrew's broom was trying to knock his feet out from under him. Perdita, Mary, and Remus were trying to help, but the broom refused to let him be. It was like watching an odd game of jump rope, and Lily's heart filled with pity for the boy. It was only the second day, and he had yet to be successful in any of his magical endeavors. The Slytherins were practically rolling on the ground laughing at him, despite Madame Hooch's remonstrations.

Potter whispered something to Black, who began nodding excitedly. Lily wasn't the only one who noticed this exchange, and Marlene threw them a disapproving look.

"Whatever you two are plotting, you'd better not even think of-"

Before she could even finish her sentence the two boys took of like a shot towards the Slytherins who were laughing at Peter. Potter and Black were darting over their heads, doing flips in the air and then diving down towards them only to pull up at the last possible moment.

"Doing it," Marlene finished with a disappointed sigh.

Lily wasn't sure if she was more shocked or concerned at what was going on in front of her. Marlene looked like she was about to have an aneurism, and Dorcas didn't even try to contain her laughter at the boys' antics.

"They're quite good, aren't they?"

"If by good you mean suicidal, then yes," Lily argued.

"They'll be fine, Lily. I heard Potter say he'd been flying since before he could walk. I didn't believe him then, but now I'm not so sure."

Lily did have to admit that the two boys were skilled on a broom. Potter was certainly far more graceful in the air than he appeared on the ground. Another sharp feeling of annoyance shot through her as she watched him shoot through the air so effortlessly. Madame Hooch was blowing her whistle, but it could hardly be heard over the shrieks of the Slytherins and the laughter of the Gryffindors.

The merriment came to a screeching halt as Madame Hooch pulled out her wand and shot red sparks in the air, silencing the Slytherins and distracting the two boys on brooms.

"Potter! Black! On the ground, now!"

The boys calmly landed in front of her as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"What do you think you were doing?" she asked them, fuming.

"Trying to help them with their flying technique?" Potter offered.

"Kind of you, Potter, but perhaps next time you ought to listen to my instructions before you decide to take the matter of your peers' education into your own hands. As it is, you and Black will be spending the night in detention."

The boys looked appropriately abashed by her words until Madame Hooch turned around. Lily could have sworn she saw them grinning at each other. She sincerely hoped they wouldn't be together for their detention since that would hardly constitute a punishment.

With the lesson apparently over, Lily made her way over to where Severus was gathering his things.

"That was…interesting," she started.

"Couple of arrogant gits aren't they?" Severus asked her, gesturing toward Potter and Black.

"They do seem to enjoy showing off more than most…" Lily hedged.

Severus rolled his eyes as the boys high-fived Remus and Peter. Lily was slightly surprised that Remus had enjoyed their little display, but she supposed boys would be boys.

"C'mon, they're none of our concern," Lily said, practically pulling him towards the castle. She couldn't help but notice some of the other Slytherins looking at them oddly. Apparently the antipathy between Gryffindor and Slytherin was not one-sided.

"Sev? Why did you never tell me that Gryffindors and Slytherins hate each other? I thought Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin had been best friends?"

Severus shrugged, "I didn't think it mattered. It doesn't affect us, right?"

"Right," she said, feeling guilty that she had ever doubted that.

"It's just one of those things that's happened over time, I'm not even sure why the whole rivalry business exists…"

Lily was shocked that Severus didn't know something about Hogwarts. He seemed to have a never-ending stream of knowledge when it came to the school. She knew he would have no reason to lie about it, so she merely accepted it with an, "Oh, ok."

They had arrived at the Great Hall and Lily felt bad for having to leave him to join her House, but she waved sadly at him before they moved toward their own sides.

When she sat down, all of the Gryffindors, not just the first years, were discussing Potter and Black's little stunt during flying lessons.

"Heard you gave some Slytherins what was coming to them! Well done, boys!" the red-haired prefect and beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team, Gideon Prewett, slapped the boys on the backs. "Keep flying like that, and you'll have a spot on the House team by next year!"

Potter and Black grinned proudly around them. Lily had to fight the urge to roll her eyes and groan. Only those two could be congratulated for breaking rules, by an authority figure, no less. They didn't seem to shy away from the attention in the least, in fact they seemed to thrive in it. They were gaining an admiring crowd around them, and Lily tried to find a seat as far away from the throng as possible.

She ended up sitting next to the other fifth year prefect, Agatha Hightower. She was shaking her head at her fellow prefect, her blue eyes flashing with frustration. She turned when she saw Lily sit down next to her.

"Don't want to join your classmate's fan club?" Agatha questioned her.

Lily merely shook her head with a glance toward the boys. "I don't really see why they should be admired for breaking rules."

"I'm glad one of you has some sense," she snorted. "What's your name again?"

"Lily Evans," she told the older girl.

"Well, Lily Evans, I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly," Agatha smiled at her kindly. "What really bothers me is that when we congratulate behavior like this, it just puts us on a lower level than the Slytherins. It makes us look immature and silly. If we really want to be better than them, we should show it with out work ethic and our honor. Not with stupid little antics."

Lily wasn't sure why being better than the Slytherins mattered, but she did agree with Agatha's line of thinking.

"Anyway, how are you liking Hogwarts?"

Lily could barely contain her enthusiasm as she told Agatha how much she loved her classes. Agatha gave her tips for taking notes and studying for different classes, as well as how to get on the good side of some of the older professors like Slughorn, McGonagall, and Flitwick.

"I'm no genius when it comes to Potions, though I've done all right for myself. The real mastermind is Lucretia Blishwick." She nodded towards a seventh year girl with long dark hair. "She's absolutely brilliant with Potions, you should talk to her if you ever need help. And you'll want to get a self-writing quill for History of Magic. Believe me, it's far easier to read the information than try to pay attention during that class…"

When they left to go to their separate classes, Lily was thrilled that she had met Agatha.

"You just let me know if you need anything, all right?"

Lily smiled and thanked her before running to catch up with the other Gryffindors as they walked to History of Magic.

"Who was that you were with, Lily?" Mary asked her once Lily caught up.

"Agatha Hightower. The prefect," Lily explained.

"Merlin, you sure do know how to pick them, Evans," Potter turned to roll his eyes at her.

"What do you mean?"

"First Snivellus, now Agatha Hightower. Next thing we know you're going to be having tea with Bloody Baron" Black explained.

"Could you please not call him that? And she seemed perfectly friendly to me," Lily told them.

"Well you also think slimy little snakes are friendly, so I don't know if you're the best judge," Potter threw at her. "Gideon says Agatha's a real pain in the arse. Can't go two seconds without nagging everyone around her."

"Potter, you don't even know the first thing about them or me, so I'd appreciate it if you could refrain from judging my choice of mates. Sev and Agatha have never been anything but nice."

"I know everything I need to know about them. One's a Slytherin and the other is a prissy prefect. Now, you might not be half bad if you could just do something about your terrible taste in companions."

"Hey!" Dorcas protested. "I'd consider Lily a mate, and I'm pretty damned delightful if I do say so myself."

"Yes, thank you for that glowing compliment, Potter, but I think I'm just fine as I am."

Lily stayed close to the other girls, refusing to go anywhere near Potter and Black as they entered the History of Magic classroom, taking a seat beside Dorcas. Lily was shocked when the professor entered the room not through a door, but straight through the blackboard. Dorcas chuckled at her gasp.

"That's Professor Binns. He taught my dad way back in the day. Apparently he dozed off one day in the staff room, died in his sleep, and then walked into class the very next day as if nothing had happened. I don't think he even realizes he's dead."

Without further ado, Professor Binns launched straight into a series of Goblin Rebellions, and Lily rushed to grab a quill and parchment to write down everything he said. After years of muggle history, Lily was enthralled at how interesting wizard history was. She was actually excited at the prospect of reading more about the subject. That was, until she heard snoring coming from behind her.

She turned and saw Peter Pettigrew's face flat on his desk and drooling, while Potter and Black attempted to see how many ripped up pieces of parchment they could put on his face without waking him up. Lily was about to nudge Dorcas, but realized there was soft snoring coming from beside her as well. Dorcas was slumped over on her side, a piece of parchment that was completely blank besides a heading lying on the desk in front of her.

Nearly everyone in the room was either sleeping or had found some other way to skive off. The only people attempting to pay attention were Mary, Remus, and Severus who was sitting across the room with the other Slytherins. Professor Binns either didn't notice or didn't care and continued with his lecture as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Lily did her best to block out the noises around her and focus on his monotone words, but felt extremely relieved when class was over and they had to leave for Charms with the Ravenclaws.

Black decided to wake Peter with a well-aimed stinging hex, causing the startled boy to fall out of his seat, hitting the ground with a loud, "Ooph!" Potter and Black laughed at him for a good thirty seconds before offering to help him, red-faced and embarrassed, off of the floor.

"Hey, Sev!" Lily called, rushing to grab him before he left the room. "Want to meet me on the grounds tomorrow after breakfast?"

Severus glanced over at the other Slytherins who were watching the exchange with curious and disapproving eyes before answering in a low voice, "Yes, I'll be there." He smiled, looking satisfied as he turned and left the room.

Potter was watching her closely with the same disapproval she had seen on the Slytherins' faces, but Lily decided she didn't care what any of them thought anyway.

Charms went far better than she could've hoped for. She mastered _Wingardium Leviosa_ faster than all of the other students, including Potter and Black, and Professor Flitwick had her give a demonstration for the entire class. It wasn't until she lay in bed that night that she remembered she had completely forgotten to speak to Perdita.

* * *

"We'd best get going," James announced after dinner, grabbing Sirius's arm. "What would it say about us if we were late for our very first detention?"

"Probably that you'll be spending a lot of time there in the future," Dorcas smirked at them.

"You wound me," James gripped his heart dramatically causing Dorcas to roll her eyes.

"She's got a point," Marlene nodded towards Dorcas. "You two never pay attention in class, you don't follow instructions, you take any opportunity you can to try and embarrass Slytherins…"

"Hey, they deserve that!" James defended himself. Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Yes, how dare they try and get an education," Evans spoke for the first time.

"Now you're talking sense, Evans! We'll make a true Gryffindor of you yet!" He attempted to pat her on the head, but she quickly dodged him, scooting closer to Mary.

"Not to mention they were rather enjoying the struggles of our good friend Peter. Surely you don't object to us helping out a friend?" Sirius asked her in a serious voice, though his eyes gave away the pleasure he took from trying to outsmart her. Peter's look of shock at being considered a friend of James and Sirius's provided a better defense than anything she could have come up with.

"You two are just lucky they have a new Caretaker and it's not Pringle anymore. You'd probably be hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons for terrorizing his darling Slytherins," Gideon Prewett told them, mussing up their hair as he walked past with his arm around a raven-haired Hufflepuff girl.

"It'd still be worth it!" James shouted after him. Gideon turned to give him a thumbs up before the pair disappeared around the corner.

Evans rolled her eyes at him, "Weren't you two leaving?"

"Careful, we might think you don't enjoy our company" James winked at her.

"All right, get going, you two," Marlene attempted to shoo them away from the Gryffindor table.

"We're going, we're going!" Sirius threw his hands up in surrender as Dorcas threw a roll at him. "I don't know if I like these Gryffindor girls. Rather bossy, if you ask me."

"I don't think it's such a bad thing. Keeps things interesting at the very least," James argued as they left the Great Hall and walked towards the office of Argus Filch, the new Hogwarts Caretaker.

"I heard Filch is a squib," Sirius told James as they neared the office.

"And?" James asked. Sirius merely shrugged before knocking on the door.

"Come in!" a voice called on the other side of the door. James and Sirius entered the small, mostly empty room. A man, no older than twenty with thin brown hair and a rather bulbous looking nose stood in front of the desk at the center of the room. "You two are the troublemakers, eh?"

James and Sirius looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

"Technically we prefer 'mischievously inclined' but we needn't get into the semantics," Sirius corrected him with an impish grin. Filch grumbled in response before ushering the boys out of his office.

"Headmaster says we aren't allowed to beat the students anymore, so it looks like you'll be spending the evening in the Detention chamber. Shame, don't you think?" He pushed Sirius out of the way so that he could lead the way. "Follow me."

Filch took them down a series of halls on the first floor, until they neared the History of Magic classroom.

"I hope our punishment isn't sitting through another lecture with Binns," James whispered to Sirius.

"They're trying to punish us, not bore us to death," Sirius whispered back.

Filch opened a door slightly farther down the hall, revealing a room slightly smaller than the average classroom only there was no blackboard or desk for a professor. There were only about twenty evenly lined up desks facing a bare wall. "You'll stay in here until I come to get you."

"What time might that be?" Sirius inquired.

'Whenever I see fit," Filch told him with a sneer. "And I wouldn't bother trying to leave, the door's enchanted."

Filch slammed the door behind them, and the boys heard the lock click with finality.

"Well this isn't so terrible," James said, reclining in one of the desks. "We could be shining the suits of armor or some other such nonsense…Er, what are you doing?"

"James, look at this painting," Sirius was inspecting a large portrait of witches being burned at a stake that took up a good portion of the wall. He let his hands run over the old canvas. He could see the figures barely moving in the distance. The flames danced as the crowds cheered them on. Sirius could see the anguished screams of the witches, but could hear nothing, the small figures were so far away.

"Bit grim, isn't it?"

"Not to mention ironic. I wonder why they kept it in here." Sirius let his hand run over the side of the frame, stopping when he felt something move. "What's this?"

The portrait pulled open to reveal a hallway separate from the one they had entered in. James jumped up from his seat, and sprinted over to where Sirius stood gaping at the hole in the wall.

"I think you've found something brilliant," James told him in awe.

"Blimey, why would they make an escape from the detention room? Do you think it's a trap?"

James scoffed at the idea. "Does Filch seem that clever to you? I'd bet he doesn't even realize this is here." James stopped and looked down the hall both ways before stepping out into the empty corridor. He laughed and let out a whoop of victory. James pointed out a portrait the same size, but depicting a friendlier scene of witches and wizards eating together at a feast. "Must be a two sided entryway."

"Looks like detentions won't be too much of a problem now, will they?" Sirius pointed out with a laugh.

"Sirius…" James started.

"Yeah?"

"How many portraits are there in the castle?"

"Loads. I don't think anyone's ever counted. Hundreds, thousands maybe."

"And how many do you think could be passages just like this one?" James gave Sirius a meaningful look, his eyebrows raised. "I think we've found ourselves something worthy of our time here at Hogwarts."

* * *

Severus sat waiting in the Slytherin Common Room. He checked the tattered old watch that used to belong to his grandfather for what must have been the tenth time in two minutes. It was now 7:58. Lucius had told him 8:00 so he wasn't sure quite why he was so worried. He checked his watch again to pass the time.

At exactly 8:01 Lucius came through the passage into the Common Room. He merely nodded his head towards Severus, but Severus knew he was meant to follow him. Giving Lucius a few seconds head start, he stood and yawned as if bored of being there before sauntering over to the stairway leading to the boys' dormitories. He marched up the staircase to where Lucius was waiting in front of the 7th year boys' dormitory as if he was in no great hurry.

Once they had entered the room, Lucius shut the door and began casting silencing charms. Severus turned to face the rest of the room's occupants. He only recognized a few of the older boys from the table in the Great Hall, though he didn't know any of their names. He did know the two other boys from his own year, Cassius Avery and Lawrence Mulciber. He briefly wondered why the three of them had been invited, but not the other two Slytherin boys from their year.

"Take a seat, Severus," Lucius pushed him toward the opposite side of the room where Mulciber and Avery were sitting. "You're probably wondering why we asked you three to come here tonight." He waited for them to nod in agreement before continuing. "We have singled you three out as containing the necessary… attributes that comprise a person of particular interest for us."

He paused and took a moment to glance around the room.

"We were all singled out as you were in the past few years of our schooling by older students. It's an honor to be chosen as you have been."

Severus thought it rather odd that Lucius seemed to be in charge in spite of there being several students older than him. He shrugged this off considering what he now knew of Lucius's personality. He didn't seem to take orders from anyone he didn't consider far superior to himself, and he evidently did not consider the older boys his superiors.

"What exactly have we been chosen for?" the blonde boy sitting to Severus's right, Avery, asked. The boy had a thin and unpleasant face, though that was probably because it was constantly set in a scowl.

"We'll be paying special attention to you three. We have certain… contacts that will help you as you grow older. These contacts will likely become vital to you in the future. We're giving you the opportunity to join us, to become wizards far more powerful than any of your peers. We can teach you things you've never dreamed of. We will help you on the way to greatness.

"The world is changing; it's up to us to stay ahead. We'll help you if you so desire; if not, I suggest you leave now."

Not one of the boys moved an inch. Lucius smiled at them proudly.

"Just as I thought. Now this isn't something you go blabbing about to your little friends," he gave Severus a meaningful look. "I suggest you keep your mouths closed about it to anyone who isn't sitting in this room. We'll be in contact when it's time to meet again. Until then, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to come to us. We want to help you and guide you."

Lucius unlocked the door, and allowed the boys to leave. Severus walked down into the first year dormitory with Avery and Mulciber. Once they saw that neither Evan Rosier nor Amycus Carrow was in the room, they each turned to each other.

"Those 'contacts' that Malfoy bloke was talking about, you think he meant You-Know-Who?" asked Mulciber in a whisper, his eyes darting toward the door.

"Of course he meant You-Know-Who, what are you daft? I didn't realize he would be recruiting so young, but it's a good opportunity," Avery told them, shrugging.

Severus had read about You-Know-Who in the newspapers his mother still received. He knew that he was possibly the greatest wizard in the world. Once Dumbledore croaked there would be no question about it. He had been recruiting followers, people who wanted to help him create a new order and improve the wizarding world Severus wasn't exactly sure how, but he wasn't exactly concerned at the moment. All he knew was that apparently he had somehow proven himself, and he couldn't keep the small satisfied grin off of his face.


End file.
